Programme

Overview: The role of the radiation therapist (RTT) is continually evolving with technological developments and in response to the complexities of care that cancer patients need and deserve. Combined treatment regimens and the ability to safely escalate radiation doses means the patient pathway requires multidisciplinary expertise. This session reviews our RTT changing scope of practice and how we, as experts in our field, can drive our professional development and recognition. The transformation from a newly graduated clinical RTT to roles that encompass expanded and advanced practice requires knowledge, personal growth, support and leadership. The 4 speakers will share insights into our evolving scope covering applications in management, research, and explore opportunities for the future direction of our RTT practice. This engaging session will be interactive: the audience are encouraged to ask questions and share their own experiences within the panel discussion.

Overview: This symposium will explore the critical role of radiotherapy in palliative oncology care. Topics will focus on the potential and challenges of radiotherapy in the end-of-life care in the context of clinical trials. In addition, speakers will dive into the literature and discuss the interplay between palliative radiotherapy and immunotherapy. This session will include an insight in the advances in techniques and technologies in the setting of palliative radiotherapy as well as value-based healthcare. Finally, we will discuss the results of the BONY-M trial. This is a must-attend session that will provide a state-of-the-art overview of patient-centered management of advanced cancer.

Overview: Summation of doses is required in several treatments of radiation oncology. The Symposium will give an overview for some of these namely combined treatment of brachytherapy and photons, the setting of re-irradiation, and adaptation. These speakers will each introduce the relevant issues, the current procedures in daily clinical practice incl. the main methods/tools in use. An overarching topic is deformable image registration software, which is needed in each case. Current advances, assessment of uncertainties and an outlook on registration approaches will wrap up the session.

Overview: Highly skilled and sufficient workforce is crucial for quality and safe radiotherapy, but many regions of the world are facing staff shortages due to various reasons. RTTs are particularly affected, especially because in many countries worldwide, the profession of RTT is not recognised and there is lack of education and training programmes. Therefore, comprehensive and innovative workforce recruitment and retention strategies are of paramount importance. Moreover, targeted interventions at workplace aimed at enhancing job satisfaction, resilience, mental and physical health are vital components in reducing staff turnover and ensuring service continuity. The speakers in this session will discuss existing challenges and share best practices and solutions, mainly within the context of European region.