Novel Approaches in Radio- and Chemotherapy and Clinical Applications

Dear Colleagues,

In developed countries, cancer is the second main cause of death after cardiovascular diseases. However, cancer mortality has been decreasing in recent years. This is not only the result of an increase in cancer detection at an early stage, or the introduction of prevention, but also the result of new treatment options. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are used in the treatment of cancer. The appropriate sequence of application of these methods, or the use of simultaneous radiotherapy and chemotherapy, allow for continuous improvement in treatment results. The introduction of new techniques in radiotherapy, such as IMRT, VMAT or stereotaxy, makes it possible to escalate doses to the tumor with simultaneous protection of healthy tissues and higher treatment tolerance. Moreover, supportive treatment during chemotherapy allows combining both methods. Examples of the use of radiochemotherapy before surgery and achieving improvement in results are found in the treatment of esophageal or rectal cancer. In some cases, thanks to the use of new techniques, radiotherapy is considered an equivalent method to surgery, e.g., in treating prostate cancer. Stereotactic radiotherapy can be used both in the case of radical treatment and metastatic lesions. One should also not forget about new molecular therapies, used both in the case of adjuvant treatment and generalized disease. The choice of management strategy is influenced not only by the disease stage, general condition, and past and present comorbidities but, above all, by the histological type and location of the neoplasm. Due to the multitude of treatment methods, the greatest difficulty seems to lie in planning the treatment. Therefore, raising the subject of a new approach in radiotherapy and chemotherapy as well as clinical applications appears justified.

For this issue, possible topics of interest may include:

1) Novel strategies for the treatment of cancer.

2) Combination cancer treatments—simultaneous and sequential radiochemotherapy as an independent radical treatment or in combination with surgical treatment.

3) Targeted treatment in combination with radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

4) Brachytherapy as a radical and palliative treatment.

Dr. Ludmiła Grzybowska-Szatkowska
Dr. Krzysztof Jeziorski
Guest Editors

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