ABOVE: © ISTOCK, THOMAS HECKER
Radiation is one of the most common treatments for cancer. How patients are dosed depends largely on cancer type, location, and stage, but this decision is mostly based on population studies, even though patients with similar types of cancer often respond differently to the same amount of radiation. Among the multiple efforts to face that challenge, a research team has developed a model—based on the gene expression of a tumor—that predicts the biological effect of a given radiation dose, with the aim of optimizing treatment doses in each patient.
In a study published August 4 in The Lancet Oncology, the team tested whether their model, known as genomic-adjusted radiation dose (GARD), predicted clinical outcome following radiation treatment in cohorts already reported in literature. They found that GARD scores, which aim to forecast tumor responsiveness to treatment, were associated with time to first recurrence and overall ...
