This issue reviews some areas of recent progress, new knowledge, and controversy in the field of gastrointestinal radiation oncology. It was presented in the 2014 ASTRO Annual Meeting and was highly spoken by our readers. The JGO editorial office thanks our issue editor Dr. Bryan Chang and all authors for their tremendous efforts to share their knowledge with us, and their contribution to advance the development of gastrointestinal radiation oncology.
This issue explores the nuances that may allow us to enhance the therapeutic ratio of esophageal chemoradiation by Dr. Lloyd et al, and emerging therapies with great potential for local control of hepatic tumors by Dr. Kennedy et al. This issue also offers a masterful and balanced look at the very controversial area of adjuvant chemoradiation for pancreatic cancer by Dr. Regine et al. Techniques with a long history of use in rectal and anal cancer and expertise in the very technically demanding subject of radiation for anal cancers are shared by Dr. Kovacs and Dr. Jabbour respectively. The problem of organ motion is addressed by Dr. Chen et al. Dr. Lo et al provides an outstanding review of the tolerance of the gastrointestinal organs to the high-dose-per-fraction radiation that will be an increasingly important part of our anti-cancer arsenal.
Disclosure:
The series “The Art and Science of Radiation Therapy for Gastrointestinal Cancers” was commissioned by the editorial office, Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology without any sponsorship or funding. Bryan Chang served as the unpaid Guest Editor for the series.