Session Item

Simultaneous radiotherapy and drug treatment can be divided into two very different areas, that are 1) simultaneous treatments in mostly curative situations where a maximal locoregional effect (sometimes with some additional reduction of metastases) is intended, and 2) simultaneous treatments that are applied "by chance", i.e. mainly in palliative situations with the need of systemic treatment and an additional indication for local radiotherapy because of a symptomatic metastasis.

In the first case, the treatment is either applied in clinical trials or is based on data of clinical trials, i.e. not only efficacy but also safety is given by a high level of evidence. The second case is much more frequent and much more heterogeneous. Here, any kind of drug that is approved for metastatic solid tumours can play a role. There will of course be knowledge about the toxicity of the drug and also of the radiotherapy application. But in most cases, data about potential synergistic effects in normal tissues are not existent or are case reports. Especially in cases where the drug alone has toxicity in normal tissues that are situated closed to the tumour region, it is the responsibility of the treating physician, to outweight risk and advantages of the treatment and to protect the respective normal tissues as much as possible.

The talk will give some examples about novel combinations and side effects.