Interview with Pierre Blanchard
Chair of the ESTRO 2023 Clinical Track

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Which topics received the largest number of abstracts?

Close to 1,000 abstracts have been submitted to the clinical track. The top three disease sites in terms of the highest numbers of abstracts are urology, head & neck, and breast cancers, with 165, 135 and 132 abstracts respectively. Other, smaller fields have also received high-quality submissions. Remember it’s all about quality, not quantity!

Can you highlight any emerging or innovative trends in research?

The emerging trends that will be presented at the European SocieTy for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) 2023 congress are many. They include new prospective and/or randomised data on the use of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for oligometastatic disease, trials on PET-guided dose painting, artificial-intelligence-guided radiotherapy or molecular risk stratification and treatment personalisation. Those are topics that will change the field in the coming years.

Can we expect a lot of clinical trials?

ESTRO 2023 will include large randomised trials in different tumour types, including breast cancer, head and neck cancers, gynecological cancers or oligometastatic disease, among others. But it will also feature other prospective studies, randomised or not, throughout the programme.

Why should you not miss ESTRO 2023 as a radiation oncologist?

I think ESTRO 2023 is a must-attend for radiation oncologists because there will be a mix of exciting science, networking, innovation and multidisciplinarity. The programme is filled with a combination of new data and updates/reviews, and innovative formats such as mini-orals have been implemented to enable more interaction. And Vienna in spring is a wonderful place to be…

What makes this track so special according to you

In addition to offering the latest research for each specific tumour site, with dedicated symposia and proffered papers or mini-oral sessions, in this track I enjoy sessions that combine different tumour sites in a single theme. For example, sessions on challenging situations for SBRT, biology-adjusted radiation therapy, re-irradiation or the development of research paradigms that are adapted to emerging technologies. Besides, the clinical pre-meeting course on palliative care will explore patients’ and physicians’ journeys in the era of new treatments and radiation techniques and is truly a summary of what makes radiation oncology special, as a combination of high technology in a profoundly humane environment.

Pierre Blanchard
Chair of the ESTRO 2023 Clinical Track