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Palliative radiation therapy in oncology.

Dolinsky C, Metz JM

Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, 2 Donner Building, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Dolinsky@xrt.upenn.edu

Palliative radiation therapy is considered when the incurable cancer patient has symptoms specifically related to a malignancy that may be relieved by localized treatment of the primary tumor or metastatic lesions. Developing a treatment plan with radiation in the palliative setting may be more difficult than the curative setting, where there are clear guidelines for many situations. Radiation therapy has been used successfully in the management of a variety of pain syndromes. Radiation also has proven effective in the management of other tumor-related symptoms, including bleeding, neurologic compromise, dysphagia, and airway obstruction. Palliative radiation can be delivered using a variety of techniques: external beam radiation therapy, intraluminal brachytherapy (radioactive seed delivery), and systemic radionucleotides.

Published 20 February 2006 in Anesthesiol Clin, 24(1): 113-28, viii-ix.
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