Many of these errors could have been detected if the machine operators were paying attention. In fact, many of the reported errors involve mistakes as simple and as egregious as treating patients for the wrong cancers; in one example, a brain cancer patient received radiation intended for breast cancer. Today's linear accelerators also lack some of the necessary safeguards given the amounts of radiation they ca n deliver. For example, many linear accelerators are unable to alert users when a dosage of radiation far exceeds the necessary amount to effectively damage a cancerous tumor. Though responsibility ultimately rests with the technician, software programmers may not have designed their product with the technician's needs in mind.