Choi Won Hoon, Cho Jaeho
Department of Radiation Oncology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea .
J Korean Med Sci. 2016 Feb;31 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S75-87. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2016.31.S1.S75. Epub 2016 Jan 28.
Radiotherapy, which is one of three major cancer treatment methods in modern medicine, has continued to develop for a long period, more than a century. The development of radiotherapy means allowing the administration of higher doses to tumors to improve tumor control rates while minimizing the radiation doses absorbed by surrounding normal tissues through which radiation passes for administration to tumors, thereby reducing or removing the incidence of side effects. Such development of radiotherapy was accomplished by the development of clinical radiation oncology, the development of computers and machine engineering, the introduction of cutting-edge imaging technology, a deepened understanding of biological studies on the effects of radiation on human bodies, and the development of quality assurance (QA) programs in medical physics. The development of radiotherapy over the last two decades has been quite dazzling. Due to continuous improvements in cancer treatment, the average five-year survival rate of cancer patients has been close to 70%. The increases in cancer patients' complete cure rates and survival periods are making patients' quality of life during or after treatment a vitally important issue. Radiotherapy is implemented in approximately 1/3 to 2/3s of all cancer patients; and has improved the quality of life of cancer patients in the present age. Over the last century, as a noninvasive treatment, radiotherapy has unceasingly enhanced complete tumor cure rates and the side effects of radiotherapy have been gradually decreasing, resulting in a tremendous improvement in the quality of life of cancer patients.
放射治疗是现代医学中三大主要癌症治疗方法之一，在长达一个多世纪的时间里持续发展。放射治疗的发展意味着能够向肿瘤给予更高剂量的辐射，以提高肿瘤控制率，同时将辐射穿过以到达肿瘤的周围正常组织所吸收的辐射剂量降至最低，从而降低或消除副作用的发生率。放射治疗的这种发展是通过临床放射肿瘤学的发展、计算机与机械工程的发展、前沿成像技术的引入、对辐射对人体影响的生物学研究的深入理解以及医学物理中质量保证（QA）计划的发展而实现的。过去二十年放射治疗的发展相当引人注目。由于癌症治疗的不断改进，癌症患者的平均五年生存率已接近70%。癌症患者治愈率和生存期的提高使得患者治疗期间或治疗后的生活质量成为一个至关重要的问题。大约三分之一至三分之二的癌症患者接受放射治疗；放射治疗提高了当代癌症患者的生活质量。在过去的一个世纪里，作为一种非侵入性治疗方法，放射治疗不断提高肿瘤的完全治愈率，且放射治疗的副作用逐渐减少，极大地改善了癌症患者的生活质量。
