Course directors

• Marco Krengli, Radiation Oncologist, University of Piemonte Orientale & Centro Nazionale Adroterapia Oncologica (CNAO), Pavia, (IT)
• Tony Lomax, Medical Physicist, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen & ETH Zurich (CH)

Teachers

• Dirk De Ruysscher, Radiation Oncologist/ Radiotherapist, MAASTRO Clinic, Maastricht (NL)
• Piero Fossati, Radiation Oncologist, MedAustron, Wiener Neustadt (AT)
• Semi Harrabi, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg (DE)
• Silvia Molinelli, Medical Physicist, Fondazione CNAO, Pavia (IT)
• Marco Schwarz, Medical Physicist, University of Washington, Seattle (USA)
• Beate Timmermann, Radiation Oncologist, Klinik für Partikeltherapie, Universitätsklinikum, Essen (DE)

Local organiser

• Alejandro Mazal, Technical director and Head of Medical Physics, Fundacion Quironsalud-Centro de Protontherapia Quironsalud, Madrid

The course aims to:

• Provide a detailed overview of the clinical rationale and indications of particle therapy, and the status of supporting medical evidence including status of clinical trials
• Make understandable the distinguishing features of particle therapy compared to other radiotherapy modalities
• Deepen knowledge of physical, biological, and technical aspects of particle therapy implementation in clinical practice
• Describe and explain particle treatment systems, dosimetry, treatment delivery, treatment planning and articulate the latest technological developments in particle therapy
• Share challenges of particle centre projects in different health care environments

Learning Outcomes

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

• Understand the radiobiological, physical and clinical rationale for particle therapy
• Have a basic understanding of accelerator technology, current equipment and the practical complexities of building a particle centre
• Understand the differences between active and passive beam delivery technology, and details of treatment planning, specifically of intensity modulated therapy and motion management
• Know the clinical rationale for proton and carbon ion therapy, the current indications and clinical practice according to various disease sites
• Know the current clinical evidence for particle therapy, and the status of clinical trials
• Have a general understanding of the integration of particle therapy in general radiation oncology
• Summarise the latest technical developments
• Have some knowledge of future directions in the research and development of particle therapy

Course Content

Physics and biology: image guidance techniques, dosimetry and quality assurance

• Physical aspects of particle therapy
• Ion source accelerator, beam line and beam delivery technology
• Passive and active delivery
• Biological aspects of particle therapy
• RBE determination, biophysical modelling plan optimisation

Medical Physics: image guidance techniques, dosimetry and quality assurance

• Imaging for treatment planning
• Treatment planning for proton and carbon ion therapy
• Plan evaluation, robustness, quality assurance
• Intensity-modulated particle therapy and image-guided particle therapy.
• Physical and technical approaches to the treatment of moving organs.

Clinical indications, anti-cancer effects, toxicity, challenges and limitations of particle therapy

• Clinical challenges and pitfalls of proton and carbon ion therapy
• Current clinical indications and applications for proton and carbon ion therapy also in combination with systemic treatments, according to pathological and anatomical disease characteristics
• Clinical case reviews and discussions, review of clinical trials
• New trends in radiation oncology and integration of particle therapy
• Future clinical directions and developments.

Roadmap for a particle therapy project

• How to build a new particle therapy facility – from project planning to starting clinical operation
• New technologies for hospital based particle centres
• How to expand an existing radiotherapy department with particle therapy.

Protocol and journal club about latest clinical and physics developments.

Guided tour of the local particle therapy facility

Prerequisites

Before commencing this course, participants should:

• Have a basic understanding of radiobiology and radiation physics
• Know the basics of radiotherapy and radiotherapy planning
• Have a general understanding about the evaluation of medical evidence

Teaching Methods

Interactive lectures, tutorials, journal club, case reviews and discussions, tour of the proton facility.

Methods of Assessment

• MCQ
• Evaluation form

The preliminary programme is available here.

Accreditation

Application for CME recognition will be submitted to the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME), an institution of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS). EACCME credits are recognised by the American Medical Association towards the Physician’s Recognition Award (PRA). Information on the status of the applications can be obtained from the ESTRO office.

Course Venue

Eurostars I hotel****

Calle Virgilio 4 Ciudad De La Imagen 

Pozuelo-de-Alarcon

Madrid

28223

Spain

(5 minutes walking distance from Centro de Protonterapia Quironsalud which we will visit on Sunday afternoon)

Accommodation

Accommodation can be booked at the venue (Eurostars I hotel****)

Booking form for hotel is available here. Please send it to Isabel Zornoza // ventas@eurostarsihotel.com

Membership

ESTRO members can order products at substantially reduced prices. To benefit from the member registration rate, you must subscribe for the ESTRO membership 2023 BEFORE registering to the course. To become an ESTRO member, benefit from the member registration rate and discover the many other member advantages, please visit the membership page.

Fees

* Members with specialty RadiationTherapist (RTT) may register at the In-Training fee

Early rates are applied up to three months before the starting date of the course.

Late rates are applied three months before the starting date of the course.

The fee includes the course material, coffees, lunches, and the social event.

Advance registration & payment are required.

Since the number of participants is limited, late registrants are advised to contact the ESTRO office before payment, to inquire about availability of places. Access to homework and/or course material will become available upon receipt of full payment.

Insurance and cancellation

The organiser does not accept liability for individual medical, travel or personal insurance. Participants are strongly advised to take out their own personal insurance policies.   

In case an unforeseen event would force ESTRO to cancel the meeting, the Society will reimburse the participants fully the registration fees. ESTRO will not be responsible for the refund of travel and accommodation costs.

In case of cancellation, full refund of the registration fee minus 15% for administrative costs may be obtained up to three months before the course and 50% of the fee up to one month before the course. No refund will be made if the cancellation request is postmarked less than one month before the start of the course.

Reduced fees

Members from emerging countries may register at a preferential rate of 350 Euro. Emerging country fee applies to individuals from low-income and lower-middle-income economies according to the World Bank listing here.

Additionally, all specialties from the following countries can benefit from this preferential rate: 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.  In addition, medical physicists from Cyprus can email education@estro.org to apply for this fee.

The preferential rate of 350 Euro is granted automatically when you click on the  BOOK NOW  button and the three conditions below are met:

1. Only ESTRO members for 2023 are eligible (please make sure your 2023 membership is in order before you click on the BOOK NOW  button)
2. Only one course per person per year can be subsidized by ESTRO
3. Sponsored candidates are not entitled to reduced fees (the invoicing address has to be the one of the participant)  

 Please note:

• We can only guarantee a certain number of reduced fees per course
• Application deadlines are the same as early registration fees (3 months before the course date).