A new era of Brain radiotherapy: prediction of side effects - Dreams to remember

The diagnosis of a brain tumor has a lot of impact for the patient and his family. The life expectancy varies and the treatment usually consists of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or a combination of these. Patients who receive these treatments usually experience acute and long-term side effects such as hair loss, headache, memory loss and concentration problems. These side effects may have a negative impact on the quality of life after treatment. This thesis looked at the possible side effects of brain radiotherapy and how to predict these effects before the start of treatment. It studied the role of the cerebellum in regard of cognitive functioning, how to delineate the cerebellum and other brain structures on a scan, how to compare different radiotherapy techniques and in the thesis a 3D model is presented that is able to visualize predicted hair loss before the start of treatment.