Programme

Overview: This session will discuss the role of radiotherapy in Merkel cell carcinoma and highlight tthe need for ESTRO guidelines to inform management. Key clinical questions will be outlined, and two cases presented to illustrate the use of these guidelines in multidisciplinary patient management. Practical guidance for clinical decision making in standard and non-standard Merkel cell carcinoma scenarios will be provided.

Overview: • Concept of interventional radiotherapy (brachytherapy) for liver tumours • Technical aspects of CT-guided HDR brachytherapy (“direct hit” technique) • Patient selection and indications in oligometastatic disease • Treatment workflow: planning, catheter placement, and dose delivery • Clinical outcomes and toxicity based on recent multicentre and RWE studies • Comparison with other radiotherapy modalities (SBRT) • Future perspectives of brachytherapy in liver-directed therapy

Overview: Radiotherapy quality assurance is not a bureaucratic checkbox — it is a scientific necessity. Any clinical trial with a radiotherapy component stands or falls on the rigour of its RTQA. This joint ESTRO-EORTC symposium makes that case compellingly, exploring why RTQA must be embedded in all trials, how protocols can be harmonised globally, and how value assessment frameworks can strengthen the evidence base for radiotherapy. Drawing on decades of trial experience, the session offers both the rationale and the practical tools to raise the bar in radiotherapy trial design.