Course Director

Michael Joiner, Radiation Biologist, Wayne State University, Detroit (US)

Teachers

• Rob Coppes, Radiation Biologist, UMC Groningen, Groningen (NL)
• Vincent Grégoire, Radiation Oncologist, Léon Bérard Cancer Center, Lyon (FR)
• Karin Haustermans, Radiation Oncologist, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven (BE)
• Marianne Koritzinsky, Radiation Biologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto (CA)
• Laure Marignol, Radiation Biologist, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin (IE)

The course aims to:

• Provide an introduction to radiation biology as applied to radiotherapy
• Cover the basic mechanisms of cell death/survival and the radiation response of tumours and normal tissues
• Explain the formulae of tissue tolerance
• Describe the biological basis for current approaches to the improvement of radiotherapy including novel fractionation schemes, retreatment, IMRT, modification of hypoxia, hadron therapy, combined radiotherapy/chemotherapy and biological modifiers of tumour and normal tissue effects.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course participants should be able to:

• Understand the biology of how ionizing radiation is able to effectively treat cancer
• Distinguish radiotherapy and its advantages from other cancer therapies
• Have the essential knowledge of radiobiology necessary for qualifying examinations.

Course Content

• A series of basic lectures introducing molecular and clinical radiobiology
• Mechanisms and models or radiation cell killing
• The linear-quadratic approach to fractionation
• Molecular basis of radiation response
• Radiobiology and tolerance of normal tissues to (re)treatment
• Alternative fractionation schedules in radiotherapy
• Tumour hypoxia and the microenvironment
• Combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy
• The volume and dose-rate effect in radiotherapy
• Biological response modifiers (tumours, normal tissues) and molecular approaches to therapy
• Protons and other particles in radiotherapy
• Radiation-induced malignancies.

Prerequisites

Before commencing this course participants should:

• Ensure their knowledge of basic biology and physics is at least high-school level
• Familiarise themselves with access to the journals covering radiobiology related to radiotherapy.

Teaching Methods

• 27 hours of lectures
• 3 hours of tutorials
• 4 hours of discussions.

Methods of Assessment

• MCQ
• Evaluation form.

Programme

Our course will consist out of live/synchronous ZOOM webcasts starting on Saturday 4 September at 9 am CET

The final programme can be consulted here

Key Words

Radiobiology, radiation biology, radiation oncology, radiotherapy.

Membership

ESTRO members can order products at substantially reduced prices. Please note that in order to benefit from the member price, you must renew your membership for 2021 before registering to the course.To benefit from these member rates, please visit the membership page to become a member or renew your membership BEFORE proceeding with your order.

Fees

*  All specialties: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia,, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine

RTTs and physicists only: Cyprus  

RTTs only: Italy 

To apply for the above rate, please contact education@estro.org at least 2 weeks before the start of the course. Thereafter, the desk rate will be applied.

** Members with specialty Radiation Therapist (RTT) may register at the In Training fee

The standard rate is applied up to 2 weeks before the starting date of the course.

Desk rates are applied 2 weeks before the starting date of the course.

Advance registration & payment are required.              

Registration will close on the date published on the front page of the course.
 

Cancellation

A registration to the online workshop may be cancelled without any fees before pre-online course material is sent out. Pre-online course material is sent out a few days before the first workshop lesson. After the pre-online course material is sent out, no refund of the  registration fee is possible.

Fee for ESTRO members working in countries with a less competitive economic background:

ESTRO members working in countries with a less competitive economic background can benefit from the above fees if three conditions are met:

1. Only ESTRO members for 2021 are eligible (please make sure your 2021 membership is in order before you apply for the reduced fees
2. Sponsored candidates are not entitled to these fees (the invoicing address has to be the one of the participant)  
3. Your application is submitted 2 weeks before the course start date