The history of radiation therapy (part I)

In 1903, on the basis of Morozov Institute of the Moscow Imperial University (currently, P. Herzen Moscow Oncology Research Center, a branch of the National Medical Research Radiological Center, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation), the first specialized unit in Russia was opened – department of radiation therapy of oncological diseases, in which scientific research in the field of medical radiology was officially launched in our country for the first time. The first studies in the field of radiation therapy can be attributed to this period.

The article presents a brief summary of the historical development of radiotherapy in the world and in Russia; provides information on the achievements of global importance, fundamental for this scientific field. The activities of leading Russian organizations in the field of radiation therapy are reviewed; names of scientists, doctors and other specialists who have made a significant contribution to its development are provided. The main literature sources relevant to the field are given.

The data in this article may be of interest and be useful for biomedical scientists, practicing radiologists and radiotherapists, oncologists, medical and graduate students, interns and other specialists.

1. L'Annunziata M.F. Radioactivity: Introduction and History. Amsterdam, Elsevier, 2007. 632 p.

2. Vlasov P.V. Otkrytie rentgenovskih luchej [Discovery of X-Rays], Vestnik Rentgenologii i Radiologii, 1995, no. 5, pp. 55–57. (In Russian)

3. Hellman S. Roentgen centennial lecture: discovering the past, inventing the future, Int. J. Rad. Oncol. Biol. Phys., 1996, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 15–20.

4. Röntgen W. On a new kind of rays, Proceedings of the Wűrzburg Physico-Medical Society, 1895.

5. Becquerel H. Sur les radiations invisibles émises par les sels d'uranium, CR Acad Sci (Paris), 1896, 122, pp. 689–694. (In French)

6. Tarkhanov I.R. Opyt nad dejstviem Rentgenovskih X-luchej na zhivotnyj organism [Experience on the effect of X-rays on animal organism]. Izvestiya. St.-Petersb. Biol. Lab., 1896, vol.1, no.3, pp. 47–52. (In Russian)

7. Despeignes V. Observation concernant un cas de cancer de l'estomac traité par les rayons Röntgen, Lyon médical: Gazette médicale et Journal de médecine réunis Société médicale des hôpitaux de Lyon, 1896, pp. 428–430. (in French)

8. Freund L. Ein mit Röntgen-strahlen behandelter Fall von Naevus pigmentosis piliferus, Wien Med Wochensch, 1897, no. 10, 428–33. (in German)

9. Connell P., Hellman S. Advances in radiotherapy and implications for the next century: A historical perspective, Cancer. Res., 2009, vol. 69, no. 2, pp. 383–392.

10. snovy luchevoy diagnostiki i terapii: natsional’noye rukovodstvo [Fundamentals of radiation diagnosis and therapy: national manual], by acad. S.K. Ternovoy as eds. Moscow, GEOTAR-Media Publ., 2012. 992 p. (in Russian).

11. Terapevticheskaya radiologiya: rukovodstvo dlya vrachey [Therapeutic radiology: a guide for physicians], by Tsyb A.F., Mardynsky Yu.S. as eds. Moscow, OOO "MK" Publ., 2010. 552 p. (in Russian)

12. Curie P., Curie M. Les nouvelles substances radioactives et les rayons qu’elles émettent, Rapports présentés au Congrès international de Physique, Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1900, vol. III, pp. 79–114. (in French)

13. Wickham L., Degrais P. Radium as employed in the treatment of cancer, angiomata, keloids, local tuberculosis and other affectations. New York, Paul B. Hoeber, 1913.

14. Mould R.F. Priority for radium therapy of benign conditions and cancer, Curr. Oncol., 2007, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 118–122.

15. Reshetillo D.F. Lecheniye luchami rentgena [Treatment with X-rays]. Moscow, 1906. (in Russian)

16. Regaud Cl. Influence de la duree d'irradiation sur les effets determines dans le testicule par le radium, Compt. rend. Soc. biol., 1922, no. 86, pp. 787–790. (in French)

17. Pasteau O., Degrais P. De L'emploi du radium dans le traitement des cancers de la prostate, J. Urol. Med. Chir., 1913, no. 4, pp. 341– 366. (in French)

18. Ash D., Bottomley D.M., Carey B.M. Prostate brachytherapy, Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases, 1998, no. 1, pp. 185–188.

19. FerrouxR., MonodO., Regaud Cl. Treatment of cancer of the neck of the uterus by radium at a distance; technique and first results, J. de radiol. et d'électrol., 1926, X, 21–23 (also publ. in the American Journal of Surgery, 1927, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 96.).

20. Coutard H. Principles of X-ray therapy of malignant diseases, Lancet, 1934, no. 2, pp. 1–12.

21. Quimby E.H. Achievement in Radiation Dosimetry, 1937–1950, Br J Radiol, 1951, vol. 24, no. 277, pp. 2–5.

22. Strandquist M. Studies of the Cumulative Effects of Fractionated X-Ray Treatment, Acta Radiol, 1944, Suppl. 55, pp. 1–300.

23. Ellis F. Dose, time and fractionation: a clinical hypothesis, Clin. Radiol., 1969, no. 20, pp. 1–7.

24. Busch U. 100 years of the Coolidge tube, Rofo, 2014, vol. 86, no.1, pp. 85–86. (in German)

25. Coolidge W.D. The development of modern roentgen-ray generating apparatus, Am. J. Roentgenology, 1930, no. 24, pp. 605–620.

26. Kaplan H.S., Bagshaw M.A. The Stanford medical linear accelerator. III. Application to clinical problems of radiation therapy, Stanford Med. Bull., 1957, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 141–151.

27. Ginzton E.L., Craig S. Nunan History of microwave electron linear accelerators for radiotherapy, J. Radiation Oncology EmI. Phys, 1985, vol. 11, pp. 205–216.

28. Baker M. Medical linear accelerator celebrates 50 years of treating cancer, Stanford Report, 2007. Available at: https://news.stanford.edu/news/2007/april18/med-accelerator-041807.html (accessed 22.05.2018)

29. Chernyaev A.P. Nuclear-physical technologies in medicine, Fizika ehlementarnyh chastic i atomnogo yadra, 2012, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 499–518. (in Russian)

30. Marusina M.Ya., Kaznacheeva A.O. Current state and prospects of tomography, Nauchno-Tehnicheskii Vestnik Informatsionnykh Tekhnologii, Mekhaniki i Optiki, 2007, no. 42, pp. 3–13. (In Russian)

31. Taylor A., Powell M.E.B. Intensity-modulated radiotherapy–what is it? Cancer Imaging, 2004, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 68–73.

32. Matjakin G.G., Chuprik-Malinovskaya T.P., Nasnikova I.Yu., Yemeljanov I.V. Modern possibilities of radiation therapy in oncology, Kremlevskaya Medicina, 2011, no. 1, pp. 47–51. (In Russian)

33. Gulidov I.A., Mardinskiy Yu.S. Hadron radiation therapy of malignant tumors, Vmeste protiv raka: Vracham vsekh spetsial’nostey, 2005, no. 3, pp. 33–37.

34. Brown A., Suit H. The centenary of the Bragg peak, Radiother. Oncol., 2004, no. 73, pp. 265–268.

35. Stone R., Laurence J., Aebersold P. Preliminary report on use of fast neutrons in treatment of malignant disease, Radiology, 1940, no. 35, pp. 322–327.

36. Catterall M., Bewley D. Fast neutrons in the treatment of cancer. London, Academic Press and New York, Grune and Stratton, 1979, p. 39.

37. Mardinskiy Yu.S., Gulidov I.A. Application of neutrons for remote radiation therapy of malignant tumor, Voprosy onkologii, 1993, vol. 39, no. 4–6, pp. 153–161. (in Russian)

38. Hatanaka H. Boron-neutron capture therapy for tumors, Glioma, 1991, pp. 233–249.

39. Wilson R. R. Radiological use of fast protons, Radiology, 1946, vol. 47, no. 5, pp. 487–491.

40. Kamada T., Tsujii H., Blakely E.A., Debus J., De Neve W., Durante M., Jäkel O., Mayer R., Orecchia R., Pötter R., Vatnitsky S., Chu W.T. Carbon ion radiotherapy in Japan: an assessment of 20 years of clinical experience, Lancet Oncol., 2015, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. e93-e100.

41. Kaprin A.D., Alekseev B.Ya., Boiko A.V., Droshneva I.V. P.A. Herzen Moscow oncology institute: of XX century – in the XXI century, Luchevaya diagnostika i terapiya, 2013, no. 3, pp. 6-11. (in Russian)

42. 50 let deyatel’nosti tsentral’nogo nauchno-issledovatel’skogo rentgenoradiologicheskogo instituta MZ SSSR [50 years of activities of the Central Scientific Research Roentgenoradiological Institute of the MH USSR], by K.B. Tikhonov as ed. Leningrad, 1970. 66 p.

43. 80 let Rossiyskomu nauchnomu tsentru rentgenoradiologii Minzdrava RF [80 years of the Russian Scientific Center of RoentgenoRadiology, MH RF]. by V.N. Kharchenko and N.I. Rozhkova as eds. Moscow, 2004. 323 p.

44. N.N. Petrov National Medical Research Centre of Oncology» Ministry of public health of Russian Federation. About centre. [site]. Available at: https://www.niioncologii.ru/institute (Date of access: 22 May 2018)

45. «N.N.Blokhin Russian Cancer Research Center» of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. About center. [site]. Available at: http://www.ronc.ru/ (Date of access: 22 May 2018)

46. Monzul G.D., Gladilina I.A. The use of protons in oncology (35-Year Practice of N.N. Blokhin Cancer Research Centre), Radiatsionnaia biologiia, radioecologiia. 2005, vol. 45, no. 6, pp. 670–674. (in Russian)

47. Tarutin I.G. My friends – medical physicists, Meditsinskaya fizika, 2016, no. 1, pp. 97–117. (In Russian)

48. osudarstvennoye Uchrezhdeniye Meditsinskiy Radiologicheskiy Nauchnyy Tsentr Rossiyskoy Akademii Meditsinskikh Nauk [Medical Radiological Research Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences]. Obninsk, MRRC RAMS Publ., 2008. 33 p. (in Russian)

49. Zedgenidze G.A. Ternistyy put’ v nauku (avtobiograficheskiye ocherki) [The thorny way to the science (autobiographical sketches)]. Obninsk, NIIMR Publ., 1992. 282 p. (in Russian)

50. Kaprin A.D., Galkin V.N., Zhavoronkov L.P., Ivanov V.K., Ivanov S.A., Romanko Yu.S. Synthesis of basic and applied research is the basis of obtaining high-quality findings and translating them into clinical practice, Radiatsiya i risk, 2017, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 26–40. (In Russian)