The Radiation Therapist (RTT) track at ESTRO 2022 - PDF Version

6 - 10 May 2022, Copenhagen, Denmark

My name is Maddalena Rossi and I am the chair of the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) for radiation therapists (RTTs) for the 2022 congress of the European SocieTy for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO 2022), which will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark.

I work at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam as a senior research RTT.

We are looking forward finally to a live congress after ESTRO 2020 was held totally online and ESTRO 2021 in a hybrid format. Both were very successful congresses, but I think you will all agree that meeting in person with colleagues rather than seeing people via a screen is much better for all of us. However, we must be thankful that we had technology to help us through the last two years so that we were able to follow congresses and keep in touch with colleagues, family and friends.

On behalf of the SAG RTT ESTRO 2022 and the RTT committee, I would like to invite you all to attend ESTRO 2022 in Copenhagen and I hope that the RTT programme will inspire you to do so.

We have a very interesting programme, which starts with an engaging and important pre-meeting course on Friday 6th May. The course is called Time to Adapt: Future role of the RTT, Future Proofing the RTT Profession, led by course directors Yatman Tsang, radiation therapist at the Mount Vernon Hospital (UK), and Philipp Scherer, radiation therapist at the Salzburger Landeskliniken in Austria.

The main programme is focused on patients. There will be presentations on inequality in patient care, personalisation of patient care, patient-related outcome measurements (PROMS) and patient-related experience measurements (PREMS). We will consider what we as RTTs can learn from our patients and how we can personalise treatment and make the patient experience as positive as possible under the circumstances. These issues will be addressed by both renowned and early-career RTT speakers.

There will also be presentations on new technologies, advances in technologies such as adaptive strategies, artificial intelligence (AI) in radiotherapy and the role of RTTs in the use of these techniques. The talks will aim to answer questions such as: how will AI be used in RT? What role can the RTT play in the use of AI in radiotherapy? What effect will such uses have on the RTT profession and the future of the RTT? Should AI be incorporated into the RTT curriculum?

This year we will have not only a debate but also a panel discussion. The theme of the debate will be brachytherapy as a specialised area and whether brachytherapy should be addressed more broadly or deeply in the curriculum than it is now.

The panel discussion will draw together a number of international experienced RTTs, who will discuss the question of whether AI is a friend or foe to the RTT.

As usual we will hold a meet-and-greet session, in which RTTs can meet the members of the RTT committee to find out more about ESTRO. In fact we will hold two meet-and-greet sessions: one live in Copenhagen and one online. We intend to provide more information at a later date regarding dates and times of these sessions.

We hope that this attractive programme will inspire many of you to attend and look forward to meeting you in person in Copenhagen in May. See you there!

Maddalena Rossi
Chair, SAG RTT, ESTRO 2022