Report on the seventh European Particle Therapy Network workshop - PDF Version
22 October 2021, online
The seventh European Particle Therapy Network (EPTN) virtual workshop was attended by 48 participants.
The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly influenced societies and healthcare worldwide. In this newsletter, you can read about two surveys that have been conducted among members of the particle therapeutics community. The results seem to indicate that our community has responded robustly to the pandemic challenge, with only minor implications for daily activities, referrals and the fraction schedules that have been used.
Since the last annual meeting, which was held online in October 2020, the EPTN has been further involved in the European Commission’s steering group on health promotion, disease prevention and management of non-communicable diseases through its sub-group on proton therapy. This sub-group is co-chaired by representatives of the directorate-general of health and food safety (DG SANTE) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). At a sub-group meeting in 2021, it was confirmed that possible investment in proton therapy had been put on hold until the need for/benefit of proton therapy was confirmed. On the other hand, the EIB is willing to support a new research project on proton therapy with the European Commission and the European atomic energy community (EURATOM). Further details will be discussed during the next meeting with the EIB in January.
Publications:
We are glad to see continued activity in the working groups that has resulted in the publication of several papers and scientific reports. In future, we will highlight the publications on our homepage www.estro.org/Science/EPTN .
- Eekers DBP, et al. Update of the EPTN atlas for CT- and MR-based contouring in neuro-oncology. Radiother Oncol 2021; 160: 259-265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radonc.2021.05.013
- Sørensen BS, et al. Does the uncertainty in relative biological effectiveness affect patient treatment in proton therapy? Radiother Oncol 2021; 163: 177-84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radonc.2021.08.016
- Heuchel L, et al. Is a variable proton RBE considered in clinical practice? ‑ ESTRO survey among 25 proton centres. Radiother Oncol 2021; 161(Suppl.1) S313-314. DOI: 10.1016/S0167-8140(21)06904-8.
We look forward to a productive year for the network in 2022, and hope that we can have a face-to-face annual workshop in the autumn. The provisional date is set for 5 October 2022. It will be a one-day meeting in a central location in Europe.
You can read about the Covid-19 surveys, progress across our seven working parties, updates from EU projects and other initiatives of interest to the network at this link >>>
Damien Weber, Cai Grau and Dietmar Georg
Co-chairs, EPTN task force
Damien Weber, Switzerland
Cai Grau, Denmark
Dietmar Georg, Austria