The radiobiology of breast radiotherapy

In order to fully understand the possible impact of different radiotherapy techniques on a cancer, it is essential to have knowledge of the underlying radiobiology of both the cancer and the radiotherapeutic method. Without this, toxicity or control could be compromised when changing fractionation or delivery. The radiobiology of conventional external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) is relatively well understood, whereas the radiobiology of hypofractionated techniques is less clear. The challenge of integrating radiobiology into daily practice may perhaps become more straightforward as large randomized trials start to include radiobiology as a primary focus [1, 2].