TY - JOUR TI - High energy radiation in cancer treatment AB - Certain basic recommendations on the use of supervoltage radiation and radioisotope teletherapy in the treatment of malignant growths have been made by an expert study group which met in Vienna in August this y ear. The group, convened jointly by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Health Organization, was composed of 20 radiotherapists and radiation physicists from 12 countries. High energy radiation, used in the treatment of malignant tumours, can be either in the form of gamma- or X-rays or in the form of beams of accelerated electrons. The source of radiation is kept at a certain distance from the patient. The study group was agreed on the value of supervoltage radiotherapy, including gamma-ray and high voltage x-ray therapy as well as electron beam therapy. The required gamma radiation can be obtained from large sources of radioactive materials like cobalt 60 or caesium 137, while electron beams are produced by high voltage accelerators. The experts considered the sources in four broad categories: large supervoltage units, intermediate units, small isotope units and units of electron beams or very high energy x-rays. Each group of source was described including its usage. The experts made it clear that while supervoltage radiation should be a part of an organized radiotherapy department, the radiation facilities at any particular establishment should not be of the supervoltage type alone. The high energy facilities could be fruitfully used only when there was a background of general radiotherapy. The group emphasized that supervoltage radiotherapy, in common with other forms of radiotherapy, should be conducted only by adequately trained and qualified personnel, including radiation physicists, and specified the training and qualifications required of such personnel. It was felt that specialized training was one of the main requirements at the present stage and the training programmes of IAEA and WHO should be utilized extensively for this purpose. It was further suggested that post-graduate training of radiotherapists and radiation physicists should be arranged by means of fellowships, visits of experts should be organized to give instruction and advice in different countries, and composite groups of workers should be enabled to study new techniques in other countries. The experts recommended that further study groups should be convened to discuss such subjects as the determination of radiation doses in clinical practice and standardization of radiotherapy methods for their clinical evaluation. Another suggestion was that IAEA and WHO should promote, support and undertake research on problems of radiation medicine as related to atomic energy in those fields in which international co-operation was most desirable AU - "NONE" KW - "07 ISOTOPES AND RADIATION SOURCES" KW - "62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE" KW - "CESIUM 137" KW - "COBALT 60" KW - "COOPERATION" KW - "GAMMA RADIATION" KW - "IAEA" KW - "RADIOTHERAPY" KW - "WHO" KW - "X RADIATION" KW - "BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES" KW - "BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES" KW - "CESIUM ISOTOPES" KW - "COBALT ISOTOPES" KW - "ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION" KW - "INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI" KW - "INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES" KW - "INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS" KW - "IONIZING RADIATIONS" KW - "ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES" KW - "ISOTOPES" KW - "MEDICINE" KW - "MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES" KW - "NUCLEAR MEDICINE" KW - "NUCLEI" KW - "ODD-EVEN NUCLEI" KW - "ODD-ODD NUCLEI" KW - "RADIATIONS" KW - "RADIOISOTOPES" KW - "RADIOLOGY" KW - "THERAPY" KW - "YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES" DO - https://doi.org/ UR - PB - CY - IAEA PY - 1959 DA - 1959-10-15 LA - English J2 - [] VL - 1 C1 - C2 - C3 - C4 - C5 - Available on-line: http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Magazines/Bulletin/Bull013/01305802323.pdf L3 - Journal Name: IAEA Bulletin; Journal Volume: 1; Journal Issue: 3 ER -