Science AI Journal
Medicine · Research topic

Open research questions in Radiation Therapy and Dosimetry

145 gap statements mined from Radiation Therapy and Dosimetry papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 988 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

Choosing where to publish on Radiation Therapy and Dosimetry? See the ranked Medicine journals.

What the literature leaves open

  • Patient access to particle therapy remains a significant barrier due to limited availability and high costs. Insurance coverage and reimbursement challenges also limit patient access to PBT and CIRT. The lack of standardized treatment protocols and outcome measures hinders the evaluation of PBT and CIRT.

    Revisiting proton therapy for adenoid cystic carcinoma: a case worth making · 2026 · DOI

  • Simplified analytical and ray-tracing models may inadequately account for internal optical scattering and fiber insertion geometry. Conventional geometric modeling has limitations, such as referencing the optical fiber insertion depth from the bottom vertex of the ellipsoidal bulb. The need for accurate modeling of fiber insertion geometry and volumetric optical scattering.

    Scintillating Micro-Probe Detectors for Conventional and FLASH Proton Dosimetry: Optical Transport and Geometry Modeling · 2026 · DOI

  • Cancer radiation resistance and side effects remain major challenges for successful tumor radiotherapy. The need for additional approaches to improve treatment effectiveness. The main concept in the creation of novel radiosensitizers is the use of high-Z elements, which has limitations.

    Novel Cerium- and Terbium-Doped Gadolinium Fluoride Nanoparticles as Radiosensitizers with Pronounced Radiocatalytic Activity · 2025 · DOI

  • Proton beam therapy (PBT), owing to its unique physical properties, holds promise for better functional preservation, but robust clinical data in adults are lacking.

    Proton versus photon radiotherapy in adults with primary brain tumors evaluating functional survival: a phase 3 randomized controlled trial study protocol (PRIDE) · 2026 · DOI

  • Proton radiotherapy offers dosimetric advantages by reducing heart and lung dose but may be associated with increased acute skin toxicity, and the acute toxicity of ultra-hypofractionated proton therapy remains unknown.

    Acute skin toxicity and cosmesis outcome in non-metastatic breast cancer patients treated with ultrahypofractionated radiotherapy: a randomized controlled phase II clinical trial comparing proton versus photon radiotherapy · 2026 · DOI

  • However, the safety of this therapy in patients with a history of rectal surgery remains unclear.

    Safety of carbon-ion radiotherapy for prostate cancer after rectal surgery: a single-institution retrospective study · 2026 · DOI

  • Training a DL-based dose conversion model that can be applied to any tumor site would be ideal; however, the appropriate training regions and its generalizability remain unclear.

    Generalizability of deep learning–based dose conversion model in proton beam therapy · 2026 · DOI

  • While the clinical significance remains uncertain, this pattern may support more refined biological dose shaping.

    Advancing proton therapy: Dosimetric superiority of proton arc therapy over IMPT in esophageal cancer treatment · 2026 · DOI

  • The net effect on secondary cancer risk, especially in radiosensitive lungs, remains unclear.

    Comparison of in‐field secondary cancer risk based on therapeutic proton dose between proton arc therapy and intensity‐modulated proton therapy in lung cancer patients · 2026 · DOI

  • Most proton and electron FLASH studies have focused on whole-organ irradiation, and the normal tissue-sparing effects of high-dose proton FLASH-RT in localized thoracic settings remain unclear.

    Localized normal tissue-sparing effects of proton FLASH radiotherapy in a preclinical lung irradiation model · 2026 · DOI

  • Further treatment-planning studies, health-economic analyses, and prospective clinical trials are warranted to determine the role of upright systems alongside or in place of gantry-based systems.

    Upright, gantry-less treatments for particle therapy: a potential paradigm shift · 2026 · DOI

  • Particle therapy can offer physical and biological advantages over conventional photon radiotherapy, yet its widespread adoption remains limited by the cost, scale, and complexity of the accelerators and rotating gantries involved.

    Upright, gantry-less treatments for particle therapy: a potential paradigm shift · 2026 · DOI

  • Both GNP formulations demonstrated tolerability at the delivered dosing concentrations, and further research into the clinical deliverability of GNPs for HDR-BT is necessitated.

    Gold Nanoparticle Radiosensitization for High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy: Differential Efficacy of PEG- and RGD-Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles Across 2-Dimensional, 3-Dimensional, and in vivo Prostate Cancer Models · 2026 · DOI

  • Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are promising radiosensitizing agents for radiation therapy; however, their implementation into high dose rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) remains underexplored.

    Gold Nanoparticle Radiosensitization for High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy: Differential Efficacy of PEG- and RGD-Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles Across 2-Dimensional, 3-Dimensional, and in vivo Prostate Cancer Models · 2026 · DOI

  • Namely, we identify the in vivo safety of nanoparticles, the lack of standardized evaluation systems, and bottlenecks in large-scale production as key barriers, and we offer an outlook on future directions that integrate smart responsive nanosensitizers with clinical personalized therapy.

    Metal Nanoparticles as Sensitizers in Energy-Based Therapies for Lung Cancer: From Mechanistic Insights to Clinical Translation · 2026 · DOI

  • Combining upright posture with fixed beam lines offers expanded angular access and potential dosimetric advantages, yet optimal angle configurations remain unclear.

    Upright positioning enhances beam angle optimization and organ sparing in head and neck carbon-ion radiotherapy with fixed-beam systems · 2025 · DOI

  • However, cancer cell inactivation and/or death induced by carbon ions have not been assessed on PDTO so far or even compared to X-ray.

    Use of patient-derived tumor organoids from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma for the evaluation of the differential effect of carbon ions over X-rays · 2025 · DOI

  • Literature reporting costs for PrT, PhT, and comparisons thereof, particularly from a societal perspective, are scarce.

    Adaptable framework for cost-analyses in radiotherapy: Application to the cost of proton versus photon therapy for lung cancer in The Netherlands · 2025 · DOI

  • However, the mechanism is poorly understood, preventing its optimal application in the clinic.

    FLASH radiotherapy: physico-chemical considerations on ionisation tracks, radical reactions, and the role of oxygen · 2026 · DOI

  • Few studies have evaluated the efficacy of proton beam therapy (PBT) for external auditory canal cancer (EACC) or middle ear cancer (MEC).

    Proton beam therapy for external auditory canal and middle ear cancers · 2026 · DOI

  • Most FLASH studies have used ultra-high dose rate (>40 Gy/sec) electrons and protons whilst comparatively few studies have reported photon FLASH responses.

    Dose, dose rate and split dose impacts murine skin responses following photon FLASH irradiation · 2025 · DOI

  • Heterogeneous patient populations, - Differences in treatment techniques and fractionation schedules, - Limited availability of prospective data, - Institutional practices and follow-up vary, - Infrastructure availability and healthcare economics constrain…

    Revisiting proton therapy for adenoid cystic carcinoma: a case worth making · 2026 · DOI

  • Further research is needed to optimize detector geometry for conventional and proton-FLASH dose-rate regimes, - Investigating the effects of different fiber insertion geometries and volumetric optical scattering on dose-rate response and saturation threshold, - Developing more accurate models of internal photon scattering and optical…

    Scintillating Micro-Probe Detectors for Conventional and FLASH Proton Dosimetry: Optical Transport and Geometry Modeling · 2026 · DOI

  • The study investigated the applicability of two commonly used polymer gel dosimeters, - The study did not investigate other types of dosimeters, - The study had a limited number of uncertainties…

    Ultra-High Dose Rate Electron Beam Dosimetry Using Ag Nanoparticle-Enhanced nPAG and NIBMAGAT Gels · 2025 · DOI

  • Investigating other types of dosimeters for UHDR beam dosimetry, - Evaluating the performance of NIBMAGAT + Ag gel in clinical trials, - Investigating the molecular structure changes related to more intense polymerization processes induced by UHDR…

    Ultra-High Dose Rate Electron Beam Dosimetry Using Ag Nanoparticle-Enhanced nPAG and NIBMAGAT Gels · 2025 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Radiation Therapy and Dosimetry

Most recent work

Find a gap in your own Radiation Therapy and Dosimetry sub-topic

This page shows what the Radiation Therapy and Dosimetry literature already flags as unresolved. To narrow it to your specific question, search the Research Gap Finder: the search is free with a free account and lists the papers closest to your topic first. Unlocking that topic (50 credits, charged once) fills the comparison table from our 4.5M-paper local library and writes the gaps from its rows.

Open the Research Gap Finder →

Related topics in Medicine

Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
3,422 open questions
Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
2,076 open questions
Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
2,016 open questions
Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
1,706 open questions
Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment
1,668 open questions
Sports Performance and Training
1,492 open questions
Ferroptosis and cancer prognosis
1,448 open questions
Mosquito-borne diseases and control
1,417 open questions
Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) The lack of standardized treatment protocols and outcome measures hinders the evaluation of PBT and CIRT (“Revisiting proton therapy for adenoid cystic carcinoma: a case worth making”, 2026); (2) Proton beam therapy (PBT), owing to its unique physical properties, holds promise for better functional preservation, but robust clinical data in adults are lacking (“Proton versus photon radiotherapy in adults with primary brain tumors…”, 2026); (3) Proton radiotherapy offers dosimetric advantages by reducing heart and lung dose but may be associated with increased acute skin toxicity, and the acute toxicity of ultra-hypofractionated proton therapy remains unknown (“Acute skin toxicity and cosmesis outcome in non-metastatic breast cancer…”, 2026); (4) The safety of this therapy in patients with a history of rectal surgery remains unclear (“Safety of carbon-ion radiotherapy for prostate cancer after rectal surgery: a…”, 2026); (5) Training a DL-based dose conversion model that can be applied to any tumor site would be ideal; however, the appropriate training regions and its generalizability remain unclear (“Generalizability of deep learning–based dose conversion model in proton beam…”, 2026). 145 gap statements have been mined from Radiation Therapy and Dosimetry papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 988 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

Tools for your next paper

Gaps & Literature SearchFind open questions in any field — 120,000+ open gaps mined from our own library.Pre-CheckIs your paper ready? Acceptance odds for top, mid and open/emerging journals, in seconds.Journal FinderA ranked shortlist of target journals from a 17,500-venue index.Duplicate Publication CheckerCheck for prior publication across 7 sources and our local library.Citation GeneratorFreeA DOI or title → APA, MLA, Vancouver, Chicago, BibTeX, RIS. No signup.Graphical Abstract MakerFreeTurn your findings into a colorblind-safe graphical abstract.

How Pre-Check worksHow AI Review works

Compare the category — Honest roundups of the AI research tools, ours listed alongside the alternatives.

Command palette

Jump anywhere, run any action.