An Overview of Hypofractionation and Introduction to This Issue of Seminars in Radiation Oncology

摘要

To the classically trained radiation oncologist, the first thing that comes to mind when considering large dose per fraction radiation treatment is the concern for "late effects." Late effects, as the name implies, happen later than the effects of most medical therapies, actually months to years after completion of therapy. Aside from the knowledge of radiation-induced neoplasia, the idea of late effects is mostly foreign to our colleagues in surgery and internal medicine given that their therapies mostly cause "early effects" seen soon after administering a. drug or in the immediate postoperative period. Thorough knowledge of late effects belongs to the radiation oncologist more than any other specialty, and large dose per fraction treatment, also called hypofractionation, is more likely to cause late effects.