RADIOTHERAPY AND CLINICAL RADIOBIOLOGY OF HEAD AND NECK CANCER

Chapter 1. Introductory Aspects of Head and Neck Cancers
Chapter 2. Clinical Aspects of Head and Neck Cancer
Chapter 3. General Radiobiology Refresher
Chapter 4. Hypoxia and Angiogenesis
Chapter 5. The Mechanisms Behind Tumour Repopulation
Chapter 6. The Radiobiology and Radiotherapy of HPV-Associated Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Chapter 7. Normal Tissue Tolerance
Chapter 8. The Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer
Chapter 9. Targeted Therapies
Chapter 10. Retreatment Issues
Appendix: Radiobiological Modelling
References
Index

Common factors that lead to treatment failure in head and neck cancer are the lack of tumour oxygenation, the accelerated division of cancer cells during treatment, and radioresistance. These tumour-related challenges and possible ways to overcome them are covered in this book, authored by three medical physicists and a clinical oncologist who explain how different radiobiological findings have led to the development of various treatment techniques for head and neck cancer.
Novel treatment techniques as supported by current scientific evidence are comprehensively explored, as well as the major challenges that arise in the retreatment of patients who have already undergone a form of radiotherapy for primary head and neck cancer.

Features:
• Focuses on and targets specific clinical elements and the radiobiological aspects of head and neck cancer
• Uses an interdisciplinary approach, encompassing clinical aspects of radiotherapy, radiation biology, and medical physics
• Applies content by relating all radiobiological characteristics to their respective clinical implications
• Explains the radiobiological rationale for all previous and current clinical trials for head and neck cancer

Author
• Loredana Marcu is Professor of Medical Physics at the University of Oradea, Romania, and Adjunct Professor at School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia. She received her PhD in Medical Physics from the University of Adelaide, and her Masters degree in Applied Physics from the West University of Timisoara, Romania. During her experience in Australia, she coordinated the low dose rate brachytherapy programme at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. She was also a Training Education and Accreditation Program (TEAP) preceptor supervising and coordinating the medical physics training and education of junior physicists in South Australia.
Her 20 years of teaching experience at both Australian and Romanian universities has culminated in 14 books and book chapters on physics, radiobiology, and teaching methodologies. Her current research interests cover in silico modelling of tumour growth and response to treatment, targeted therapies, the radiobiology of head and neck cancer (HNC), and the risk of secondary cancer after radiotherapy. Dr Marcu is the recipient of the ‘Boyce Worthley award 2006,’ which is awarded by the Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine for her achievements in the areas of radiobiology and medical physics.
• Iuliana Toma-Dasu is Associate Professor in Medical Radiation Physics in the Department of Physics, Stockholm University, and she is the research group leader of the Stockholm University Medical Radiation Physics division, which is affiliated with the Department of Oncology and Pathology at the Karolinska Institutet.
Dr Toma-Dasu studied Medical Physics at Umeå University, Sweden, and received a PhD degree in 2004. Her PhD studies were led by two prominent names in the field of radiobiology, Prof Juliana Denekamp and Prof Jack Fowler. She became a certified medical physicist in 2005 and joined the Medical Radiation Physics group at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. Since 2010, she has been Associate Professor in Medical Radiation Physics at Stockholm University and the leader of the Medical Radiation Physics Division at Stockholm University and the Karolinska Institutet since 2013. In parallel with her heavy involvement in the educational programme for medical physicists at Stockholm University, her main research interests focus on exploring the influence of the tumour microenvironment on treatment outcome and the biological optimisation and adaptation of radiation therapy based on functional imaging.
• Alexandru Dasu is the Chief Medical Physicist at the Skandion Clinic, the national Swedish proton centre in Uppsala and Associate Professor in Medical Radiation Physics.
Dr Dasu studied Medical Physics at Umeå University, Sweden, and received a PhD degree in 2001. He became a certified medical physicist in 2003 and Associate Professor in Medical Radiation Physics in 2008. He has synergistically combined clinical practice in medical radiation physics with top research work in the field of radiotherapy. In addition to his strong clinical and research interest in proton therapy, another one of his major research interests is the modelling of the influence of tumour microenvironment on the tumour response to radiation with special emphasis on the tumour oxygenation, the study of the response of tumours to various fractionated regimens in relation to their radiobiological parameters, and the risk for stochastic effects following radiotherapy, including the risk of secondary cancers.
• Claes Mercke is Professor of Radiation Oncology and one of the senior physicians at the Karolinska University Hospital, Department of Oncology, in Stockholm, Sweden. He is a member of a team of physicians who are responsible for the non-surgical treatment programmes of patients with malignant diseases in the head and neck, thorax, and skin and is also responsible for the radiotherapy of paediatric tumours.
Dr Mercke studied medicine in Lund and Stockholm, Sweden, and was a certified specialist first in medicine and subsequently in general oncology. He received his PhD in Oncology and Medicine from the University of Lund and was soon appointed associate professor, where he was affiliated with the same university. He was head of the division of radiotherapy at the Department of Oncology at Sahlgren’s University Hospital in Gothenburg for about 20 years but moved to Stockholm and the Karolinska University Hospital in 2006 after being appointed Professor of Radiation Oncology at Karolinska Institutet. His main research focus has been on radiobiology, especially with a focus on genetically determined radiosensitivity as applied to clinical radiotherapy. Dr Mercke has implemented various techniques, such as modern high dose rate and pulsed dose rate brachytherapy and IMRT for HNC, prostate cancer, and paediatric tumours. Teaching and the supervision of students for their PhD exams has been one of Dr Mercke’s important responsibilities for a long time.