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Biliary Tract and Gallbladder Cancer pp 283–293Cite as

External Beam Radiation Therapy: 3D-Conformal, Intensity-Modulated, and Proton Beam

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Part of the book series: Medical Radiology ((Med Radiol Radiat Oncol))

Abstract

Radiation plays an important role in the treatment for gallbladder and biliary tract cancers. In the adjuvant setting, the goal of radiation is to provide local disease control and, by doing so, slow overall disease progression and prolong survival. Furthermore, local control is critical because of the morbidity of local progression in the biliary tract. Thus, radiation may help prevent or palliate symptomatic or uncontrolled local disease in both the adjuvant and unresectable settings. Historically, radiation has had a limited role in these malignancies. This was primarily related to the concern about radiation injury to organs at risk (OARs). With a better understanding of dose tolerances of OARs and improved conformality of treatment modalities, radiation has become more widely used.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Anusha Kalbasi & Edgar Ben-Josef

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  1. Anusha Kalbasi
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  2. Edgar Ben-Josef
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Correspondence to Anusha Kalbasi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Joseph M. Herman

  2. Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Timothy M. Pawlik

  3. Department of Radiation Oncology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA

    Charles R. Thomas, Jr.

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Kalbasi, A., Ben-Josef, E. (2014). External Beam Radiation Therapy: 3D-Conformal, Intensity-Modulated, and Proton Beam. In: Herman, J., Pawlik, T., Thomas, Jr., C. (eds) Biliary Tract and Gallbladder Cancer. Medical Radiology(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40558-7_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40558-7_19

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