Importance of long-term follow up to address long-term effectiveness and toxicity of radiotherapy

Modern radiotherapy and advances in systemic treatments are
leading to higher tumour control rates and longer survival rates,
thereby the number of long-term survivors of malignant tumours
is increasing. Therefore, minimising late and very late side
effects including radiation-induced secondary malignancies is par-
ticularly important. Accurate quantification of such sequelae is
only possible through very long, optimistically lifelong follow-up
of patients and comprehensive cancer registers