The Role of a Physicist in Radiation Oncology
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Internal Radiation Therapy, Places Radioactive Material Directly Inside Or Next to the Tumor
Brachytherapy Brachytherapy is a type of radiation therapy used to treat cancer. It places radioactive sources inside the patient to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. This allows your doctor to use a higher total dose of radiation to treat a smaller area in less time. Your doctor will tell you how to prepare and whether you will need medical imaging. Your doctor may use a computer program to plan your therapy. What is brachytherapy and how is it used? External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) directs high-energy x-ray beams at a tumor from outside the body. Brachytherapy, also called internal radiation therapy, places radioactive material directly inside or next to the tumor. It uses a higher total dose of radiation to treat a smaller area in less time than EBRT. Brachytherapy treats cancers throughout the body, including the: prostate - see the Prostate Cancer Treatment (https://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info/pros_cancer) page cervix - see the Cervical Cancer Treatment (https://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info/cervical-cancer-therapy) page head and neck - see the Head and Neck Cancer Treatment (https://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info/hdneck) page skin breast - see the Breast Cancer Treatment (https://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info/breast-cancer-therapy) page gallbladder uterus vagina lung - see the Lung Cancer Treatment (https://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info/lung-cancer-therapy) page rectum eye Brachytherapy is seldom used in children. However, brachytherapy has the advantage of using a highly localized dose of radiation. This means that less radiation is delivered to surrounding tissue. This significantly decreases the risk of radiation-induced second malignancies, a serious concern in children. -
Standards for Radiation Oncology
Standards for Radiation Oncology Radiation Oncology is the independent field of medicine which deals with the therapeutic applications of radiant energy and its modifiers as well as the study and management of cancer and other diseases. The American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO) is a nonprofit professional organization whose primary purposes are to advance the science of radiation oncology, improve service to patients, study the socioeconomic aspects of the practice of radiation oncology, and provide information to and encourage continuing education for radiation oncologists, medical physicists, and persons practicing in allied professional fields. As part of its mission, the American College of Radiation Oncology has developed a Practice Accreditation Program, consisting of standards for Radiation Oncology and standards for Physics/External Beam Therapy. Accreditation is a voluntary process in which professional peers identify standards indicative of a high quality practice in a given field, and which recognizes entities that meet these high professional standards. Each standard in ACRO’s Practice Accreditation Program requires extensive peer review and the approval of the ACRO Standards Committee as well as the ACRO Board of Chancellors. The standards recognize that the safe and effective use of ionizing radiation requires specific training, skills and techniques as described in this document. The ACRO will periodically define new standards for radiation oncology practice to help advance the science of radiation oncology and to improve the quality of service to patients throughout the United States. Existing standards will be reviewed for revision or renewal as appropriate on their third anniversary or sooner, if indicated. The ACRO standards are not rules, but rather attempts to define principles of practice that are indicative of high quality care in radiation oncology. -
Luis Alvarez: the Ideas Man
CERN Courier March 2012 Commemoration Luis Alvarez: the ideas man The years from the early 1950s to the late 1980s came alive again during a symposium to commemorate the birth of one of the great scientists and inventors of the 20th century. Luis Alvarez – one of the greatest experimental physicists of the 20th century – combined the interests of a scientist, an inventor, a detective and an explorer. He left his mark on areas that ranged from radar through to cosmic rays, nuclear physics, particle accel- erators, detectors and large-scale data analysis, as well as particles and astrophysics. On 19 November, some 200 people gathered at Berkeley to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth. Alumni of the Alvarez group – among them physicists, engineers, programmers and bubble-chamber film scanners – were joined by his collaborators, family, present-day students and admirers, as well as scientists whose professional lineage traces back to him. Hosted by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the University of California at Berkeley, the symposium reviewed his long career and lasting legacy. A recurring theme of the symposium was, as one speaker put it, a “Shakespeare-type dilemma”: how could one person have accom- plished all of that in one lifetime? Beyond his own initiatives, Alvarez created a culture around him that inspired others to, as George Smoot put it, “think big,” as well as to “think broadly and then deep” and to take risks. Combined with Alvarez’s strong scientific standards and great care in execut- ing them, these principles led directly to the awarding of two Nobel Luis Alvarez celebrating the announcement of his 1968 Nobel prizes in physics to scientists at Berkeley – George Smoot in 2006 prize. -
The Impact of County-Level Radiation Oncologist Density on Prostate Cancer Mortality in the United States
Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases (2012) 15, 391 -- 396 & 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved 1365-7852/12 www.nature.com/pcan ORIGINAL ARTICLE The impact of county-level radiation oncologist density on prostate cancer mortality in the United States S Aneja1 and JB Yu1,2,3 BACKGROUND: The distribution of radiation oncologists across the United States varies significantly among geographic regions. Accompanying these variations exist geographic variations in prostate cancer mortality. Prostate cancer outcomes have been linked to variations in urologist density, however, the impact of geographic variation in the radiation oncologist workforce and prostate cancer mortality has yet to be investigated. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of increasing radiation oncologist density on regional prostate cancer mortality. METHODS: Using county-level prostate cancer mortality data from the National Cancer Institute and Centers for Disease Control as well as physician workforce and health system data from the Area Resource File a regression model was built for prostate cancer mortality controlling for categorized radiation oncologist density, urologist density, county socioeconomic factors and pre-existing health system infrastructure. RESULTS: There was statistically significant reduction in prostate cancer mortality (3.91--5.45% reduction in mortality) in counties with at least 1 radiation oncologist compared with counties lacking radiation oncologists. However, increasing the density of radiation oncologists beyond 1 per 100 000 residents did not yield statistically significant incremental reductions in prostate cancer mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of at least one radiation oncologist is associated with significant reductions in prostate cancer mortality within that county. However, the incremental benefit of increasing radiation oncologist density exhibits a plateau effect providing marginal benefit. -
Enrico Fermi
Fermi, Enrico Inventors and Inventions Enrico Fermi Italian American physicist Fermi helped develop Fermi-Dirac statistics, which liceo (secondary school) and, on the advice of Amidei, elucidate the group behavior of elementary particles. joined the Scuola Normale Superiore at Pisa. This elite He also developed the theory of beta decay and college, attached to the University of Pisa, admitted only discovered neutron-induced artificial radioactivity. forty of Italy’s top students, who were given free board Finally, he succeeded in producing the first sustained and lodging. Fermi performed exceedingly well in the nuclear chain reaction, which led to the discovery highly competitive entrance exam. He completed his of nuclear energy and the development of the university education after only four years of research and atomic bomb. studies, receiving his Ph.D. in physics from the Univer- sity of Pisa and his undergraduate diploma from the Born: September 29, 1901; Rome, Italy Scuola Normale Superiore in July, 1922. He became Died: November 28, 1954; Chicago, Illinois an expert theoretical physicist and a talented exper- Primary field: Physics imentalist. This rare combination provided a solid foun- Primary inventions: Controlled nuclear chain dation for all his subsequent inventions. reaction; Fermi-Dirac statistics; theory of beta decay Life’s Work After postdoctoral work at the University of Göttingen, Early Life in Germany (1922-1923), and the University of Leiden, Enrico Fermi (ehn-REE-koh FUR-mee) was the third in the Netherlands (fall, 1924), Fermi took an interim po- child of Alberto Fermi and Ida de Gattis. Enrico was very sition at the University of Florence in December, 1924. -
Scientific and Related Works of Chen Ning Yang
Scientific and Related Works of Chen Ning Yang [42a] C. N. Yang. Group Theory and the Vibration of Polyatomic Molecules. B.Sc. thesis, National Southwest Associated University (1942). [44a] C. N. Yang. On the Uniqueness of Young's Differentials. Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 50, 373 (1944). [44b] C. N. Yang. Variation of Interaction Energy with Change of Lattice Constants and Change of Degree of Order. Chinese J. of Phys. 5, 138 (1944). [44c] C. N. Yang. Investigations in the Statistical Theory of Superlattices. M.Sc. thesis, National Tsing Hua University (1944). [45a] C. N. Yang. A Generalization of the Quasi-Chemical Method in the Statistical Theory of Superlattices. J. Chem. Phys. 13, 66 (1945). [45b] C. N. Yang. The Critical Temperature and Discontinuity of Specific Heat of a Superlattice. Chinese J. Phys. 6, 59 (1945). [46a] James Alexander, Geoffrey Chew, Walter Salove, Chen Yang. Translation of the 1933 Pauli article in Handbuch der Physik, volume 14, Part II; Chapter 2, Section B. [47a] C. N. Yang. On Quantized Space-Time. Phys. Rev. 72, 874 (1947). [47b] C. N. Yang and Y. Y. Li. General Theory of the Quasi-Chemical Method in the Statistical Theory of Superlattices. Chinese J. Phys. 7, 59 (1947). [48a] C. N. Yang. On the Angular Distribution in Nuclear Reactions and Coincidence Measurements. Phys. Rev. 74, 764 (1948). 2 [48b] S. K. Allison, H. V. Argo, W. R. Arnold, L. del Rosario, H. A. Wilcox and C. N. Yang. Measurement of Short Range Nuclear Recoils from Disintegrations of the Light Elements. Phys. Rev. 74, 1233 (1948). [48c] C. -
Curriculum Vitae: Georg A
Curriculum Vitae: Georg A. Weidlich, Ph.D., phone 650-387-0896 403 Pratt Ln email: [email protected] Palo Alto, CA 94306 url: www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Georg/Weidlich Professional Experience: - Founder and President, National Medical Physics and Dosimetry Company, Inc., in Palo Alto, California, from 1995 to date - Consulting Physicist and Radiation Safety Officer at ZAP Surgical Systems, Inc., San Carlos, CA, development of novel dedicated Radiosurgery device, January 2016 to date - Director of Radiological Physics at Valley Regional Cancer Center in Modesto, California, from December 1992 to December 1999 - Consulting Professor at Stanford University, Department of Neurosurgery, Palo Alto, CA, 2003 to 2008 - Adjunct Professor at California State University, Fresno, Physics Department November 2015 to date - Consulting Physicist at Siemens in the development of several major Linear Accelerator projects, beam line design, industrial applications, and shielding. - Consulting Radiological Physicist at Sierra View Medical Center, Roger S. Good Cancer Treatment Center, Porterville, California, September 1995 to date - Consulting Radiological Physicist at Sonora Regional Medical Center, Sonora, California, July 1992 to date - Reviewing Medical Physicist for Cureus Journal – Cardiac Radiosurgery, March 2016 to date - Consulting Radiological Physicist at Florence Wheeler Cancer Center, Mercy Hospital, Bakersfield, California, August 1999 to May 2003 - Consulting Radiological Physicist and RSO at California Cancer Center, Fresno, California, -
Enrico Fermi: Genius
ANNIVERSARY Enrico Fermi: genius This year marks the centenary of the birth of Enrico Fermi, one of the giants of 20th- • century science, and one of the last physicists to be both an accomplished experimentalist and an influential theorist. Here, Gianni Battimelli of the University of Rome "La Sapienza" traces the life of a genius. Enrico Fermi was born on 29 September 1901 in Rome to a family with no scientific traditions. His passion for natural sciences, and in particular for physics, was stimulated and guided in his school years by an engineer and family friend, Adolph Amidei, who recognized Fermi's exceptional intellectual abilities and suggested admission to Pisa's Scuola Normale Superiore. After finishing high-school studies in Rome, in 1918 Fermi progressed to the prestigious Pisa Institute, after producing for the admission exam an essay on the characteristics of the propagation of sound, the authenticity of which the commissioners initially refused to believe. Studies at Pisa did not pose any particular difficulties for the young Fermi, despite his having to be largely self-taught using mate rial in foreign languages because nothing existed at the time in Fermi's group discovered the Italian on the new physics emerging around relativity and quantum radioactivity induced by theory. In those years in Italy, these new theories were absent from university teaching, and only mathematicians likeTullio Levi-Civita neutrons, instead of the had the knowledge and insight to see their implications. alpha particles used in the Working alone, between 1919 and 1922, Fermi built up a solid competence in relativity, statistical mechanics and the applications Paris experiments. -
Brief Newsletter from World Scientific February 2017
Brief Newsletter from World Scientific February 2017 Exclusive Interview with 2003 Nobel Laureate One of the Top Condensed Matter Theorists and World Scientific Author Anthony Leggett Sir Professor Anthony James Leggett is a distinguished physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2003 for his pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids. He is currently a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prof Leggett gave a presentation at the 2016 APS March Meeting in Baltimore, USA on “Reflections on the past, present and future of condensed matter physics”. In a phone interview, he shared with us some of his thoughts and further musings on the future of condensed matter physics. Paradigm Shift and Our Quest for the Unknown Chad Hollingsworth Your talk at the APS March Meeting 2016 mentioned developments That probably depends on your current tenure status! Certainly, if that you classified as “paradigm shifts”. Are there any recent you have a secure, tenured job (as I have been fortunate enough to discoveries that you would classify as paradigm shifts? have for the last few decades), then I think most certainly it’s better Well, if we go slightly outside the area of condensed matter physics to explore the unknown. But, of course, I appreciate that in the current as it has been conventionally defined, then, undoubtedly, any employment situation, people who have not got a tenured job need revolution which overthrew the view of quantum mechanics as a to think about their future. This may well be a rather strong pressure complete account of the world would, I think, certainly qualify as a to basically explore the known further. -
Circles of Light: a Physicist's Tale
New Journal of Physics The open access journal at the forefront of physics www.njp.org Now part of the Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (SCOAP3). To view the benefits for authors visit iopscience.org/NJP/articlecharge. CERN Courier March 2015 Inside Story New Journal of Physics IMPACT FACTOR The open access journal at the forefront of physics 3.673 as listed in the 2013 ISI Journal Citation Report® www.njp.org Circles of light: a physicist’s tale We are pleased to announce our participation in the Sponsoring Consortium for Open Thinker or artisan? performing calculations using the theoretical tools of particle physics. In this respect, my Access Publishing in Particle Physics Lalit Sehgal on the link occupation combined the traits of a thinker with those of an artisan. (SCOAP3). between his career in physics Did the work bring me fame and fortune? A modicum of recognition, perhaps, but and a tailor he saw long ago certainly no great wealth. The main reward SCOAP3 can get your high-energy physics article published in was the joy of working with scientists, and in Lahore. sharing in the exhilaration of search and this prestigious open access journal at no cost to you. discovery. Was the work I did held in esteem? Here I have to be guarded in my reply. The For more details visit iopscience.org/NJP/articlecharge. When I was four years old, fi eld of elementary-particle physics tends to my grandfather, who was a divide itself into groups with varying ideas respected citizen of Lahore, about the important issues, priorities and came to our home in his ultimate goals. -
The Federal Government: a Nobel Profession
The Federal Government: A Nobel Profession A Report on Pathbreaking Nobel Laureates in Government 1901 - 2002 INTRODUCTION The Nobel Prize is synonymous with greatness. A list of Nobel Prize winners offers a quick register of the world’s best and brightest, whose accomplishments in literature, economics, medicine, science and peace have enriched the lives of millions. Over the past century, 270 Americans have received the Nobel Prize for innovation and ingenuity. Approximately one-fourth of these distinguished individuals are, or were, federal employees. Their Nobel contributions have resulted in the eradication of polio, the mapping of the human genome, the harnessing of atomic energy, the achievement of peace between nations, and advances in medicine that not only prolong our lives, but “This report should serve improve their quality. as an inspiration and a During Public Employees Recognition Week (May 4-10, 2003), in an effort to recognize and honor the reminder to us all of the ideas and accomplishments of federal workers past and present, the Partnership for Public Service offers innovation and nobility of this report highlighting 50 American Nobel laureates the work civil servants do whose award-winning achievements occurred while they served in government or whose public service every day and its far- work had an impact on their career achievements. They were honored for their contributions in the fields reaching impact.” of Physiology or Medicine, Economic Sciences, and Physics and Chemistry. Also included are five Americans whose work merited the Peace Prize. Despite this legacy of accomplishment, too few Americans see the federal government as an incubator for innovation and discovery. -
Radiological Protection Issues in Endovascular Use of Radiation Sources
IAEA-TECDOC-1488 Radiological protection issues in endovascular use of radiation sources February 2006 IAEA SAFETY RELATED PUBLICATIONS IAEA SAFETY STANDARDS Under the terms of Article III of its Statute, the IAEA is authorized to establish or adopt standards of safety for protection of health and minimization of danger to life and property, and to provide for the application of these standards. The publications by means of which the IAEA establishes standards are issued in the IAEA Safety Standards Series. This series covers nuclear safety, radiation safety, transport safety and waste safety, and also general safety (i.e. all these areas of safety). The publication categories in the series are Safety Fundamentals, Safety Requirements and Safety Guides. Safety standards are coded according to their coverage: nuclear safety (NS), radiation safety (RS), transport safety (TS), waste safety (WS) and general safety (GS). Information on the IAEA’s safety standards programme is available at the IAEA Internet site http://www-ns.iaea.org/standards/ The site provides the texts in English of published and draft safety standards. The texts of safety standards issued in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish, the IAEA Safety Glossary and a status report for safety standards under development are also available. For further information, please contact the IAEA at P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria. All users of IAEA safety standards are invited to inform the IAEA of experience in their use (e.g. as a basis for national regulations, for safety reviews and for training courses) for the purpose of ensuring that they continue to meet users’ needs.