What Type Of Research

[Narmerguy]

I'm interested in getting involved with research and I both really love physics and I also am strongly interested in radiation oncology. As such, I was curious what type of research is generally involved in radiation oncology? What type of basic science research done and what is the clinical research like. I understand that it is one of the most research-heavy fields out there so I was also curious about what type of research you all have been doing?

A lot of questions, I know, but if you don't mind trying to address as many as you are capable of I would greatly appreciate it

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[Gfunk6]

Broadly speaking research in Rad Onc is divided into clinical, physics, and basic/translational arms.

I assume you are a medical student so I will limit this post to topics that would be germane to you.

Clinical research generally comes in the form of retrospective studies. Generally you will have access to an electronic database of patient info/outcomes and hard copies of patient charts. You will then examine a sub-group of patients (e.g. low-risk prostate cancer) after a particular procedure(s) (e.g. surgery vs. radiation therapy) and look at outcomes (e.g. urinary symptoms).

Physics research generally involves dosimetric studies derived from patient's planning CTs. For instance, if you propose that fractionated radiosurgery is equivalent to standard IMRT for low-risk prostate cancer you can "plan" both on the same patient image and look at the dose distributions.

Basic/translational research is the broadest of the three and the toughest to accomplish given the limited amount of time most medical students have. Frequently it involves the use of a radiosensitizer which, as the name suggests, sensitizes cells to radiation therapy. Other research can involve the use of radioprotectants to shield normal tissue in the radiation field or investigating mechanisms of radiation damage.

All of this is a gross oversimplification of the true breadth and depth of Rad Onc research. However, it should give you an idea of what is going on.