Technological and biological advancements are the keys to innovation in radiotherapy. All those who wish to learn more about what's new in the radiobiological field should take a look at the radiobiology track at ESTRO 2025.
We’ll be off to a great start with the pre-meeting course on predictive molecular signatures. This course, led by Conchita Vens, Christopher Talbot and Bartek Tomasik, aims to equip participants with a comprehensive understanding of prognostic and predictive biomarkers in radiation oncology. Attendees will explore the development and application of molecular signatures as predictors of both tumour behaviour and normal tissue outcomes post-radiotherapy, with a focus on how to enhance the precision of personalised treatments. The course is open to radiation oncologists, medical physicists, radiobiologists, and healthcare professionals who are keen to integrate molecular biology into clinical practice.
Are you interested in the clinical translation of the FLASH effect? If so, you mustn’t miss the panel discussion on FLASH radiotherapy from bench to bedside. How can preclinical studies be properly designed to meet clinical needs, considering the limitations of models and the expectations of scientists and clinicians? This session is designed to open this discussion with a selection of multidisciplinary speakers.
In the symposium on advances in DNA damage response (DDR), the latest developments in understanding the DDR machinery will be explored. The impact of oncogenic signalling networks and their role in DDR will be addressed, along with novel strategies to modulate DDR in order to enhance tumour responses.
Do you want to learn more about the immunosuppressive mechanisms that occur in irradiated tumours? The symposium on how therapy shapes the tumour microenvironment will explore critical factors that contribute to tumour heterogeneity. The tumour-immune cross-talk and the impact of these interactions at different oxygen levels, along with the role of hypoxia heterogeneity on the status of tumour cells before and after radiotherapy, will be addressed.
Personalised medicine is a complex approach that requires many variables to be taken into account. Do you believe that the development of mathematical models could assist us in making clinical decisions? Might mathematical oncology and artificial intelligence facilitate patient stratification and/or treatment outcome prediction? Or is their capacity to revolutionise personalised medicine an overhyped promise? Come to share your thoughts with colleagues in a multidisciplinary setting. We look forward to hearing the audience's perspective and verifying it after four experts discuss the motion in a stimulating debate!
Targeted radionuclide therapy involves the use of alpha- or beta-emitting radiolabelled vectors, which after systemic administration can bind selectively to cancer-cell-specific receptors. Radionuclides induce DNA damage that leads to cancer-cell death upon radioactive decay. There is notable interest in the biological effects of [131I] radioiodine to treat differentiated thyroid carcinoma, [177Lu] lutetium dodecanetetraacetic acid (Lu-[DOTA]) prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) for prostate cancer and [177Lu] Lu-[DOTA-Tyr3] octreotate for neuroendocrine tumours, administered alone or in combination with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). The radiobiology of radionuclides may differ from that of EBRT, and in recent years there has been growing recognition of the clinical importance of targeted radionuclide-therapy-specific radiobiology. Differences in dose rate, radiation timing, linear energy transfer and dose distribution highlight the unlikelihood that there can be an accurate direct extrapolation of effect from EBRT to targeted radionuclide therapy. These and more issues will be addressed at the symposium on the radiation biology of targeted radionuclide therapy.
Moving from single-cell genomics to spatial transcriptomics opens opportunities to understand tumour/host and immune-cell behaviour as never before. These innovative techniques will be illustrated and their potential applications in radiation research fields will be discussed in a teaching lecture.
You will find more radiobiological topics about chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, spatially fractionated radiotherapy and modelling in the interdisciplinary track.
We look forward to your abstracts so that we can share interesting findings and opinions in a stimulating context and a perfect interactive environment.
Moreover, the bio-committee is glad to invite the radiobiology community to the ‘meet and greet’ session at ESTRO 2025. This is an informal meeting where you can discuss potential collaborative projects, find cooperation partners and strengthen networks. Young scientists are welcome to establish first contacts and communicate directly with senior scientists.
Monica Mangoni
Chair of the ESTRO 2025 radiobiology track