LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this course participants should be able to understand the:
- Essentials of brachytherapy sources, physics, applicators and afterloaders
- Essentials of brachytherapy dose planning, possibilities, and pitfalls of stepping source optimisation techniques
- Essentials of low-dose rate, high-dose rate and pulsed-dose rate radiobiology
- Indications and contraindications of brachytherapy in clinical oncology
- Essentials of different applicators to perform brachytherapy.
COURSE CONTENT
- Principles of radioactivity
- Sources used in brachytherapy
- Physics and dose calculation
- Image-guided brachytherapy
- Dosimetric uncertainties
- Clinical radiobiology in brachytherapy: general principles
- Radioprotection and afterloaders
- Optimisation of stepping source brachytherapy.
- Permanent seed and HDR prostate implants
- Interstitial brachytherapy
- Place of intracavitary brachytherapy in cervix, endometrium and vaginal cancer
- Place of endoluminal brachytherapy in oesophageal and bronchus carcinoma
- Brachytherapy for breast, bladder, anal canal, head and neck, and skin cancer
- Brachytherapy for pediatric malignancies
- Brachytherapy for uveal and choroidal melanoma
- Recommendations for recording and reporting in interstitial, intracavitary and endoluminal brachytherapy
- Use of DVH-parameters
- Practical examples of interstitial, intracavitary
- Applicator localisation for treatment planning
- Permanent and temporary brachytherapy treatment planning
- Practical exercises.
PREREQUISITES
Before commencing this course participants should be qualified or in training as a medical doctor, medical physicist or radiation therapist (RTT) in the field of brachytherapy.
TEACHING METHODS
- 18 hours of lectures
- 6 hours of hands on practical sessions on applicators and treatment planning implantations
- 5 hours of contouring case homework and discussions.
This course consists of didactic lectures, practical sessions with applicators, interactive sessions with treatment planning stations and clinical aspects and examples.
METHODS OF ASSESSMENT
Evaluation form.
KEY WORDS
Brachytherapy, basic course, clinical aspects, state-of-the-art implantation techniques, physics.
FURTHER READING
Please consult the ESTRO website page of this course for further information.
2nd edition GEC-ESTRO Handbook, accessible with an ESTRO account (members and non-members).