GEC-ESTRO Brachy ‑ HERO - PDF Version

The Brachy ‑ health economics in radiation oncology (HERO) working group was set up in 2017 to gather information on brachytherapy practice within Europe and to explore the causes of its declining use.

In 2021, Li Tee Tan stepped down as chair of the group. Peter Niehoff was designated as the new chair and the group was reorganised.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only online meetings could be held in 2021 and early 2022. In the first meetings, the discussion centred around which topics should be reworked first.

The main plan was to obtain an overview of the current situation of brachytherapy in Europe. At our first face-to-face working meeting in May 2022, which occurred during the European SocieTy for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) congress, a survey that consisted of six questions was created. Initial surveys have been conducted on brachytherapy in various European countries.

The survey was sent to 33 professional societies via the national societies committee. Of these, 26 responded, which was a great result for our first survey. The results were presented at the Groupe Européen de Curiethérapie (GEC)-ESTRO workshop in Nice.

One main purpose of the survey was to identify possible contacts who were responsible for brachytherapy in each European country in order to be able to develop further projects. For many countries, we have been able to identify a contact person, but we lack people in the rest, especially in Scandinavia and Northwest Europe.

The group is currently preparing a new questionnaire with more detailed questions. This will be sent out this year.

If you are interested in any of our activities and would like to join the group, please contact: Professor Peter Niehoff, peter.niehoff@sana.de  

Prof Dr Peter Niehoff
Chair of Radiotherapy
Sana Klinikum
Offenbach am Main
Germany