Radiation Therapy Definitions and Reporting Guidelines for Thymic Malignancies

• DOI: 10.1097/jto.0b013e31821ea60c
• Publication Date: 2011-06-15T09:00:32Z
• Authors: Daniel Gomez; Ritsuko Komaki; James Yu; Hitoshi Ikushima; Andrea Bezjak
• Keywords: Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine; Radiotherapy; Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted; Preoperative evaluations; Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens; Thymus Neoplasms; Lung function; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Oncology; Lung neoplasms; Terminology as Topic; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Humans; Surgery; Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated; RC254-282

The role of radiation therapy in the treatment of thymic malignancies is still being established, and many details that have never been clearly defined are currently being critically examined. Such an assessment has been hampered by significant inconsistency in how radiotherapy (RT) is delivered, how the RT field is defined, which patients are selected for treatment, and how outcomes are reported. An opportunity to change this has arisen through the development of the International Thymic Malignancy Interest Group (ITMIG), which is an organized collaboration of individuals interested in this field. The prerequisite to progress, however, is to establish definitions and consistent policies, so that results can be understood and compared. This is the topic addressed in this article.