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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Radiation Oncology
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1449293
This article is part of the Research Topic Radiation Therapy and Organ Preservation: Controversies and Emerging Evidence View all articles

On the significance of the different geometrical and dosimetric parameters in micro and minibeam radiation therapy: a retrospective evaluation

Provisionally accepted
Josie M. McGarrigle Josie M. McGarrigle 1*Kenneth Long Kenneth Long 1,2Yolanda Prezado Yolanda Prezado 3,4,5,6
  • 1 Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
  • 2 Science and Technology Facilities Council, Swindon, United Kingdom
  • 3 Institut Curie, Paris, Ile-de-France, France
  • 4 Université Paris-Saclay, Saint Aubin, France
  • 5 Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain
  • 6 Galician Agency of Innovation (GAIN), Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Spatially Fractionated Radiation Therapy (SFRT) is an unconventional therapeutic approach with the potential to disrupt the classical paradigms of conventional radiation therapy. The high spatial dose modulation in SFRT is believed to activate distinct radiobiological mechanisms which lead to remarkable increases in normal tissue tolerance. To make optimal use of SFRT and its benefits, a deeper understanding of the biological response and its relationship with the complex dosimetric and geometric components of SFRT is essential. A retrospective evaluation of preclinical studies was conducted to gain insight into the dosimetric and geometric parameters that are most correlated with normal tissue response. Current literature evaluates the response of tissue to MBRT and MRT according to various end points, e.g. the level of desquamation, degree of necrosis, or the amount of malcalcification. A set of metrics was developed to allow a quantitative comparison of these results. The strongest correlations were observed with the doses in both the peaks and valleys as well as the ratio of the area covered by the peak over the total area. This emphasises the geometry of the beam. MBRT challenged previous uniform dose-distribution paradigms by highlighting the critical role of Peak Dose alongside Valley Dose in tissue sparing whereas MRT underscores the significant influence of geometric beam parameters on tissue preservation. The data exhibits variability in the results obtained using different animal models and endpoints and additional research is warranted to explore the trends observed in this study under controlled conditions.

    Keywords: SFRT, MBRT, MRT, normal tissue sparing., spatially fractionated radiation therapy, Minibeam, Microbeam, Biological response

    Received: 14 Jun 2024; Accepted: 03 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 McGarrigle, Long and Prezado. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Josie M. McGarrigle, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.