Dr. Torres-Roca on Optimizing Radiation Therapy With GARD-Based Dosing in Oncology

Javier Torres-Roca, MD, senior member, Department of Radiation Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, professor of oncologic sciences, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, discusses optimizing radiation therapy with genomic-adjusted radiation dose (GARD)–based radiotherapy dosing in oncology.

GARD-based dosing was found to be predictive of radiotherapy benefit among patients with cancer treated with radiation therapy. As such, incorporating GARD-based dosing offers an additional dimension to administering radiotherapy that could further optimize the therapy for patients, Torres-Roca says.

In the past, radiotherapy was dosed in standard fields, such as the 4-field box radiotherapy technique, Torres-Roca explains. However, CT testing added a new dimension to radiation treatment decisions that allowed for providers to understand the 3-dimensional differences in prostate and bladder size, rectum placement, and node location between patients, Torres-Roca says. These anatomical differences allowed providers to adjust treatment decisions based on the information obtained from CT scans.

GARD-based radiotherapy dosing can expand the dimensions associated with radiation treatment decisions to further optimize radiation fields for patients with cancer, Torres-Roca concludes.