The principles of palliative radiotherapy: a radiobiologist's perspective.

There is a dearth of knowledge on the radiobiology of palliative radiotherapy, but some of the principles relevant to radical radiation treatments can be applied to the palliative situation. Nevertheless with minimal animal or human data available, it would appear that this area can be a fertile one for future study, although many of the difficulties and problems inherent in this type of research must be acknowledged and addressed.