Facing the climate change: Is radiotherapy as green as we would like? A systematic review.

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  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: Elsevier Scientific Publishers Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 8916049 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1879-0461 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 10408428 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Crit Rev Oncol Hematol Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Publication: <2005->: Amsterdam : Elsevier Scientific Publishers
      Original Publication: Boca Raton, Fla. : CRC Press, 1983-
    • Subject Terms:
      Climate Change* ; Radiotherapy*/methods ; Carbon Footprint*; Humans ; COVID-19/epidemiology ; COVID-19/prevention & control ; Neoplasms/radiotherapy ; Carbon Dioxide ; SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification
    • Abstract:
      Purpose: To focus on the ecological footprint of radiotherapy (RT), on opportunities for sustainable practices, on future research directions.
      Methods: Different databases were interrogated using the following terms: Carbon Footprint, Sustainab*, Carbon Dioxide, Radiotherapy, and relative synonyms.
      Results: 931 records were retrieved; 15 reports were included in the review. Eight main thematic areas have been identified. Nine research works analyzed the environmental impact of photon-based external beam RT. Particle therapy was the subject of one work. Other thematic areas were brachytherapy, intra-operative RT, telemedicine, travel-related issues, and the impact of COVID-19.
      Conclusion: This review demonstrates the strong interest in identifying novel strategies for a more environmentally friendly RT and serves as a clarion call to unveil the environmental impact of carbon footprints entwined with radiation therapy. Future research should address current gaps to guide the transition towards greener practices, reducing the environmental footprint and maintaining high-quality care.
      Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Division of Radiotherapy IEO received research funding from AIRC (Italian Association for Cancer Research) and Fondazione IEO-CCM (Istituto Europeo di Oncologia-Centro Cardiologico Monzino) (all outside the current project). BAJF received speaker fees from Roche, Bayer, Janssen, Carl Zeiss, Ipsen, Accuray, Astellas, Elekta, IBA, Astra Zeneca (all outside the current project). IEO, the European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, was partially supported by institutional grants from Accuray Inc. and IBA (Ion Beam Applications, Louvain-la-Neuve, ‎Belgium). The sponsors did not play any role in the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data, nor in the writing of the manuscript, nor in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The remaining authors declare no conflicts of interest that are relevant to the content of this article.
      (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
    • Contributed Indexing:
      Keywords: Carbon footprint; Radiation therapy; Review; Sustainability
    • Accession Number:
      142M471B3J (Carbon Dioxide)
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20240908 Date Completed: 20241201 Latest Revision: 20241201
    • Publication Date:
      20241204
    • Accession Number:
      10.1016/j.critrevonc.2024.104500
    • Accession Number:
      39245297