Mathematical models in radiation biology

In this talk, I will review concepts in radiation biology that allow us to model the effectiveness of radiation therapy in the treatment of cancer. In particular, I will focus on the Tumour Control Probability (TCP), which is the probability that no cancerous cells survive the treatment. Early TCP formulae are based on simple binomial and Poissonian statistics. They are of limited value, since they do not take cell proliferation during the treatment period into account. Recent TCP formulae are based on dynamic models of a cell population, taking cell proliferation into account. I will conclude with a discussion of how and when the TCP formulae are related to each other, and how they can be used to compare the efficacy of different treatment schedules.