Methods and apparatus for reducing risk to a subject undergoing radiotherapy-based treatment

1. A computer-implemented method of generating a radiotherapy-based treatment strategy for a subject undergoing a radiotherapy-based treatment, the method comprising:

obtaining a risk model for the subject, the risk model representing a risk of a subject class to a plurality of side-effects for a plurality of radiotherapy-based treatment strategies;

monitoring the subject to identify at least one characteristic of one or more side-effects of the radiotherapy-based treatment performed on the subject;

modifying the risk model based on the at least one identified characteristic of the one or more side-effects of the radiotherapy-based treatment; and

obtaining a radiotherapy-based treatment strategy based on the modified risk model identifying constraints for allowable treatment strategies.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the risk model comprises a set of weights which indicates how characteristics of a radiotherapy-based treatment should be weighted to minimize adverse effects.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the risk model contains a series of discrete data points which maps different radiotherapy-based treatment strategies or particular characteristics of said strategies to different risk values.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein data in the risk model is based on reported or historical instances of side-effect occurrence for a particular radiotherapy-based treatment strategy.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the risk model further defines a risk of a side-effect in a particular area or organ of the subject class.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one characteristic comprises at least one temporal characteristic or severity measurement of the one or more side-effects.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the at least one temporal characteristic comprises one or more of: an on-set time of a side-effect, an occurrence frequency of a side-effect, severity of side/adverse events and a duration of a side-effect.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the obtaining a risk model for the subject comprises:

identifying one or more characteristics of the subject; and

classifying the subject into a subject class based on the one or more characteristics of the subject; and

determining the risk model for the subject based on the subject class of the subject.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the risk model indicates an expected on-set time of different side-effects, wherein the at least one characteristic comprises an actual on-set time of a side-effect, and wherein the risk model is modified based on a difference between the expected on-set time of the side-effect and the actual on-set time of the side-effect.

10. A computer-implemented method of generating a monitoring plan for a subject undergoing radiotherapy-based treatment, the method comprising:

generating a desired radiotherapy-based treatment strategy for a subject by performing the method according to any preceding claim;

determining the actual radiotherapy-based treatment strategy performed on the subject; and

generating a monitoring plan for the subject based on at least a difference between the desired radiotherapy-based treatment strategy and the actual radiotherapy-based treatment strategy.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the side-effect is the occurrence of an immune-mediated radiation adverse event.

12. A computer program comprising code means for implementing the computer-implemented method of claim 10 when said program is run on a computer.

13. A treatment planning system for obtaining a radiotherapy-based treatment strategy of for a radiotherapy-based treatment performed on a subject, the treatment planning system being adapted to:

obtain a risk model for the subject, the risk model representing a risk of a subject class to a plurality of side-effects for a plurality of radiotherapy-based treatment strategies;

monitor the subject to identify at least one characteristic of one or more side-effects of the radiotherapy-based treatment performed on the subject;

modify the risk model based on the at least one identified characteristic of the one or more side-effects of the radiotherapy-based treatment; and

obtain a radiotherapy-based treatment strategy based on the modified risk model identifying constraints for allowable treatment strategies.

14. A radiotherapy-based treatment device adapted to:

obtain a radiotherapy-based treatment strategy from a treatment planning system according to claim 13 ; and

perform a radiotherapy-based treatment based on the obtained radiotherapy-based treatment strategy.

15. A radiotherapy-based treatment system comprising:

a treatment planning system; and

a radiotherapy-based treatment device according to claim 14 .