Lutz Stephen, Chow Edward
Department of Radiation Oncology, Blanchard Valley Regional Cancer Center, 15990 Medical Drive South, Findlay, Ohio, USA. Email:
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Ann Palliat Med. 2014 Oct;3(4):286-90. doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2224-5820.2014.10.04.
Radiotherapy is successful, time efficient, cost effective, and safe means to provide palliative relief for a variety of symptoms suffered by oncology patients. While the value of palliative radiotherapy has been understood for more than century, the radiation oncology specialty has only incompletely embraced its role in this setting. The optimization of palliative oncology requires accurate survival prognostication and a dedication to existing hypofractionated radiotherapy regimens that minimize toxicity and improve patient and caregiver convenience. The future of palliative radiotherapy demands more extensive treatment guidelines that explain the proper use of existing and novel technologies while remaining attentive to a growing population of cancer patients and a limited amount of resources with which to provide them care.
放射治疗是一种成功、高效、经济且安全的手段，可为肿瘤患者所遭受的各种症状提供姑息性缓解。虽然姑息性放射治疗的价值在一个多世纪以来已为人所知，但放射肿瘤学专业在这方面的作用尚未得到充分发挥。姑息肿瘤学的优化需要准确的生存预后评估，并致力于现有的大分割放射治疗方案，以尽量减少毒性并提高患者和护理人员的便利性。姑息性放射治疗的未来需要更广泛的治疗指南，以解释现有和新技术的正确使用方法，同时关注不断增加的癌症患者群体以及用于为他们提供护理的有限资源。
