Radiation exposures, both intentional and unintentional, have influence on normal tissue function. Short-term and long-term injuries can occur to all cell systems of both limited and rapid self-renewal potential. Radiation effects can last a lifetime for a patient and can produce complications for all organs and systems. Often invisible at the time of exposure, the fingerprints for cell damage can appear at any timepoint after. Health-care providers will need comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the acute and late effects of radiation exposure and how these interrelate with immediate and long-term care.
Part of the book: Emergency Medicine and Trauma
Imaging in neuro-oncology clinical trials can be used to validate patient eligibility, stage at presentation, response to therapy, and radiation therapy. A number of National Clinical Trials Network trials illustrating this are presented. Through the Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core’s quality assurance processes for data acquisition and review, there are uniform data and imaging sets for review. Once the trial endpoints have been analyzed and published, the clinical trial information including pathology, imaging, and radiation therapy objects can be moved to a public archive for use by investigators interested in translational science and the application of new informatics tools for trial analysis.
Part of the book: Neuroimaging