Course Director

• Coen Rasch, Radiation Oncologist, Leiden University Medical Centre (NL)

Teachers

• Rianne de Jong, Radiation Therapist, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam (NL)
• Andrew Hope, Radiation Oncologist, Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto (CA)
• Uwe Oelfke, Medical Physicist, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London (UK)
• Parag Parikh, Radiation Oncologist, Henry Ford Cancer Institute, Detroit (USA)
• Jan-Jakob Sonke, Medical Physicist, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam (NL)
• Marcel van Herk, Medical Physicist, The Christie, University of Manchester, Manchester (UK)

Local Organiser

• TBC

The course aims to:

• Cover both theoretical and practical aspects related to the clinical implementation of in-room imaging and plan adaptation in radiotherapy
• Review imaging techniques that can be applied in the workflow of conformal radiotherapy and understand how individual links in the chain of events will influence clinical outcome (from treatment prescription to preparation and planning, to patient set-up and verification)
• Identify potential sources of errors in target delineation / localisation and how IGRT can be of help, with special emphasis on conformal radiotherapy, intensity modulated radiotherapy, adaptive radiotherapy and management of organ motion
• Discuss the concept “target delineation
  • target localisation” at each particular step in the treatment chain and identify appropriate techniques to increase both efficiency as well as efficacy
• Discuss the concept of treatment adaptation and its implementation in the context of the present technological capabilities
• Offer an overview of available technologies and how to integrate these in clinical practice
• Compare available strategies and help define applicability for particular use
• Present the functionality of the equipment and technology, and identify limitations of a particular method
• Present practical recommendations for establishing an efficient image-guided workflow through optimal integration of available technologies and to emphasise the importance of teamwork and training
• Present the components of a QA strategy of IGRT systems.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course participants should be able to:

• Understand the principles of image guided and adaptive radiotherapy Implement image guidance for major patient groups in their home clinic
• Understand the relevant choices for the selection of the best image guidance protocol for their home situation
• How to start adaptive radiotherapy in their clinic
• Know the benefits of various image guidance and ART protocols.

Course Content

This is a 5-day course organised to identify the influence of image guidance at important steps in the workflow of radiation therapy. The following items will be covered in view of in-room imaging for therapy guidance:

• Image guidance required for treatment prescription
• Image guidance in treatment preparation and treatment planning
• Image guidance in patient set-up and target localisation during treatment
• Strategies and software tools for adaptive radiotherapy
• Image guidance in treatment follow-up
• MR-guided radiotherapy.

Teaching Methods

• Lectures and workshops
• Regular breakout sessions for MDs, physicists and radiation therapists. Time will be allocated as follows:
  • 23 hours of lectures
  • 3 hours of tutorials
  • 4 hours of case discussions / exercise.

Methods of Assessment

• MCQ
• Evaluation form.

Affiliations

Programme

To follow

Key Words

Image guidance, adaptive radiotherapy.

Further Reading

Please consult the ESTRO website page of this course for further information.

Accreditation

Application for CME recognition will be submitted to the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME), an institution of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS). EACCME credits are recognised by the American Medical Association towards the Physician’s Recognition Award (PRA). Information on the status of the applications can be obtained from the ESTRO office.

Venue

To follow

Membership

ESTRO members can order products at substantially reduced prices. Please note that in order to benefit from the member price, you must renew your membership for 2021 before registering to the course.To benefit from these member rates, please visit the membership page to become a member or renew your membership BEFORE proceeding with your order.

Fees

* Members with specialty RadiationTherapist (RTT) may register at the In Training fee

Early rates are applied up to three months before the starting date of the course.

Late rates are applied three months before the starting date of the course.

The fee includes the course material, coffees, lunches, and the social event.

Advance registration & payment are required.

Since the number of participants is limited, late registrants are advised to contact the ESTRO office before payment, to inquire about availability of places. Access to homework and/or course material will become available upon receipt of full payment.

Insurance and cancellation

The organiser does not accept liability for individual medical, travel or personal insurance. Participants are strongly advised to take out their own personal insurance policies.   

In case an unforeseen event would force ESTRO to cancel the meeting, the Society will reimburse the participants fully the registration fees. ESTRO will not be responsible for the refund of travel and accommodation costs.

In case of cancellation, full refund of the registration fee minus 15% for administrative costs may be obtained up to three months before the course and 50% of the fee up to one month before the course. No refund will be made if the cancellation request is postmarked less than one month before the start of the course.

Reduced fees

ESTRO members from economically challenged countries may register at a preferential rate of 350 Euro if three conditions are met:

1. Only ESTRO members for 2021 are eligible (please make sure your 2021 membership is in order before you apply for the reduced fees)
2. Only one course per person per year can be subsidized by ESTRO
3. Sponsored candidates are not entitled to reduced fees (the invoicing address has to be the one of the participant)  

Please note: