Radiation Oncology: A Physicist's-Eye View (Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering)

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Product Description

The papers collected in this hugely useful volume cover the principle physical and biological aspects of radiation therapy and in addition, address practical clinical considerations in the planning and delivering of that therapy. The importance of the assessment of uncertainties is emphasized. Topics include an overview of the physics of the interactions of radiation with matter and the definition of the goals and the design of radiation therapy approaches.

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Radiation Oncology: A Physicist's-Eye View (Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering) Review

I am a medical physicist working in proton therapy in Switzerland, and I know the author because he frequents the institute where I work, because his wife (a radiation oncologist), and I work on the same project, and because my specialty (ocular proton therapy) happens to be a field the author co-pioneered. Our relationship is probably best characterized by the fact that I am mentioned in the book as a source for a couple of pictures, but with my name misspelled.

However, I do not write this (positive) review to please the author or my colleague, but because the concept of this book excited me AND the only available review at amazon for some time now really does not do it justice.

As the product description states the author was a pioneer "in the development of image-based treatment planning and has been responsible for developing and putting into clinical practice such widely used tools as: digitally reconstructed radiographs, dose-volume histograms, and beam's-eye view and has been a leader in the development of proton beam therapy." This is one reason why this book is one of its kind. Michael Goitein writing a book on radiation oncology it is not unlike Henry Kissinger writing a book on US foreign policy. The author not only has much experience in the field, he stood at the basis of many concepts and techniques that are so established today that it is hard to imagine what the field was like without them.

But the anecdotes born from his long experience, that are offered in small doses throughout the work, are not what makes this book one of its kind. Unlike a text book, with its focus on information, this work provides 'processed information' or knowledge. The author's obvious fundamental grasp of the matter (allowing him not just to ask 'why?' but more, and more intriguingly, 'why not?'), combined with a tone that is often so conversational that I can't help but hear the author's voice, often shed a new light on topics I personally considered rather boring. This is what I found most compelling about this book: it enables the reader to look at everyday topics with the enthusiastic and knowledgeable eyes of the author, and it is this that makes this book different from (and more enjoyable than) hundreds of standard text books (several of which the author recommends in his own book).

The book, 300+ pages, 13 chapters, covers the fundamentals of radiation oncology and, besides 'conventional' radiotherapy with photons, also includes two chapters on proton therapy (proton therapy in water, and in the patient). Two chapters on Uncertainty (ch. 2, "central to the conduct of radiation therapy") and Confidence (ch. 13, "the flip side of uncertainty") reflect the crucial role the author attributes to these concepts that play a role in basically all important components of radiation therapy: "One can never ignore the uncertainties; one must deal with them." The book contains plenty of clear drawings and images that, combined with the clarity of the text, make it practically impossible not to understand the topic that is being addressed.

Throughout the book the author points at a certain technique's or process' strengths and/or limitations, pitfalls, or promises, as applicable. In the afterword the author does the same with radiation therapy and writes "Radiation therapy is a blunt and rough tool. It will not turn out to be the ultimate cure. It can, at best, only solve the problem of local, and not metastatic, disease. Its side effects are far from negligible. Our therapeutic gains, the fruit of much hard work over long years, are largely incremental in nature." After this honest assessment the author continues to state why he believes radiation therapy will continue to play a vital role in the treatment of cancer for a long time to come, that there's much to be done, a lot to be gained by a much better understanding of why radiation therapy works so well (and sometimes doesn't), and plenty of opportunities to be enjoyed. In a field in which high technology is brought in 'at an almost alarming rate' the role of the individual is likely to become more important. With increased complexity and automation and hence increasing risks comes a need for 'critical eyes of experts with simple common sense'.

This book, written by an expert with plenty of common sense, will guide the reader in looking more critically and apply common sense more persistently in the field of radiation oncology. I sincerely hope that this book will turn out to be as big an influence on the future of radiation oncology as any of the author's achievement of the past decades.

Which leaves the reader of this review with the mundane matter of whether it is worth its (considerable) price (check amazon.co.uk for, potentially, other offerings). The book does not try to be a text book, but rather provides an overview and tries'to whet the reader's appetite for more detailed information'. Consequently it may not be what you are looking for (as was the case with the first reviewer). On the other hand, a book that manages to (almost) entertain when discussing treatment planning, is, quite figuratively, priceless.

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