Introduction: Radiotherapy is one of the types of oncological treatment, beside surgery and systemic treatment, the purpose of which is the destruction of a malignantly altered cell. Irradiation to destroy malignant cells can be used, with photons or electrons, depending on the location and depth of the tumor. Electrons irradiate mainly superficial tumors, while photons irradiate deeper tumors. Purpose: The purpose of this diploma work is to present, through a systematic review of the literature, radiation with an electron beam, when it is used, advantages and disadvantages compared to the photon beam. With a systematic review of the literature, we want to compare irradiation with planned or unplanned electrons. Methods: We used a descriptive method with a systematic review of the literature. The basis for writing our diploma work is professional and scientific articles, which are available in Slovenian and international bibliographic databases. We searched for the literature from November 2020 to March 2021. Results: We have presented the findings of all the articles used in the systematic review. The significance was on presenting 3D printing of patient’s specific protections on special 3D printers and on the use of boluses in electron beam irradiation. We also compared electron and photon boost. Discussion and conclusion: Through the review, we came to the conclusion that in the case of electron beam irradiation, planned 3D printed protections from various materials and not only from the standard Wood’s metal are increasingly used to form the field. As a result, planned 3D printed protections provide greater accuracy in PTV coverage and are safer alternative than Wood’s metal protections. 3D printing on special printers has also proven to be a good alternative in the production of boluses, as they allow better dose homogeneity and PTV coverage.
|
