Technology-driven research for radiotherapy innovation

Abstract

Technology has a pivotal role in the continuous development of radiotherapy. The long road toward modern 'high-tech' radiation oncology has been studded with discoveries and technological innovations that resulted from the interaction of various disciplines. In the last decades, a dramatic technology-driven revolution has hugely improved the capability of accurately and safely delivering complex-shaped dose distributions. This has contributed to many clinical improvements, such as the successful management of lung cancer and oligometastatic disease through stereotactic body radiotherapy. Technology-driven research is an active and lively field with promising potential in several domains, including image guidance, adaptive radiotherapy, integration of artificial intelligence, heavy-particle therapy, and 'flash' ultra-high dose-rate radiotherapy. The evolution toward personalized Oncology will deeply influence technology-driven research, aiming to integrate predictive models and omics analyses into fast and efficient solutions to deliver the best treatment for each single patient. Personalized radiation oncology will need affordable technological solutions for middle-/low-income countries, as these are expected to experience the highest increase of cancer incidence and mortality. Moreover, technology solutions for automation of commissioning, quality assurance, safety tests, image segmentation, and plan optimization will be required. Although a large fraction of cancer patients receive radiotherapy, this is certainly not reflected in the worldwide budget for radiotherapy research. Differently from the pharmaceutical companies-driven research, resources for research in radiotherapy are highly limited to equipment vendors, who can, in turn, initiate a limited number of collaborations with academic research centers. Thus, enhancement of investments in technology-driven radiotherapy research via public funds, national governments, and the European Union would have a crucial societal impact. It would allow for radiotherapy to further strengthen its role as a highly effective and cost-efficient cancer treatment modality, and it could facilitate a rapid and equalitarian large-scale transfer of technology to clinic, with direct impact on patient care.

Keywords: Radiation Oncology; adaptive radiotherapy; innovation; personalized medicine; radiotherapy; research; technology.