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GEC-ESTRO Head and Neck and Skin

 

Head & Neck and Skin Working Group – Overview

The Head & Neck and Skin Working Group (WG) currently consists of a core team of 60 members, with the number of active participants steadily increasing—demonstrating the growing interest of the brachytherapy community in these areas.

Traditionally, two in-person meetings are held each year:

  • One during the ESTRO Congress
  • One at the GEC-ESTRO Workshop
     


Working Group Leadership

  • Chair, H&N GEC-ESTRO WG: Luca Tagliaferri
  • Secretaries: Angeles Rovirosa and Agata Rembielak
  • Eye Task Force Leader: Bruno Fionda
  • Skin Task Force Leader: Agata Rembielak
  • Head & Neck Task Force Leader: Piotr Wojcieszek
     


Main Areas of Activity

The WG focuses on three primary domains:

  1. Research (Clinical & Translational)
  2. Clinical Practice
  3. Education
     


COBRA Project

The flagship research initiative of the WG is the COBRA Project (Consortium for Brachytherapy Data Analysis).
COBRA is an international research network that promotes standardized, interdisciplinary data collection in Head & Neck, Skin, and Eye interventional radiotherapy. It uses a dedicated web-based platform that supports both retrospective studies and prospective clinical trials.

Currently, 19 international institutions are part of the consortium, actively contributing clinical data.
The WG is particularly focused on:

  • Data collection for skin cancer, especially peri-orificial lesions
  • Multicenter predictive model validation for eye maculopathy and visual loss
     


Ongoing Research Projects

The WG is actively engaged in several research initiatives, including:

  • The role of bolus in skin brachytherapy
  • Analysis of minimum dataset reporting in skin brachytherapy
  • The BRAVO trial on nasal vestibule cancer
  • Development of a new staging system for nasal vestibule cancer
  • Use of 3D-printed molds for personalized brachytherapy
  • A prospective international trial on brachytherapy for oral cavity cancers
     


Guidelines

The WG is continuously involved in updating:

  • Head & Neck GEC-ESTRO guidelines
  • Skin GEC-ESTRO guidelines
     


Educational Activities

The WG supports and contributes to several educational programs, including:

  • ESTRO Course on the Multidisciplinary Management of Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer
  • ESTRO-Endorsed Course on Multidisciplinary Management of Head & Neck Cancers

Additionally, the WG promotes a special project for post-graduate residents, aimed at enhancing education in Head & Neck Interventional Radiotherapy.
This includes a Residents Exchange Program among WG member institutions to foster learning and collaboration among young physicians.