17-19 October 2024, Kraków, Poland
Course Director

Agata Rembielak, Radiation Oncologist and Clinical Oncologist, The Christie Hospital and The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

• Perspectives from a clinical oncologist and a dermatologist

Could you briefly introduce yourself?

Vaka Yr Saevarsdóttir, a clinical oncologist in the radiotherapy department at Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik, Iceland. I have spent approximately five years as a specialist.

Elísabet Reykdal Jóhannesdóttir, a dermatologist and head of the dermatology department at Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik, Iceland. I have spent approximately 15 years as a specialist.

Why did you choose to attend this course?

Vaka:
I attended an ESTRO course on the multidisciplinary approach to prostate cancer in Bilbao in 2023 and was very impressed by the high educational value. I also appreciated that other specialities within the multidisciplinary board were encouraged to participate. This motivated me to plan to attend another course. I was thrilled to find a course in 2024 that covered non-melanoma skin cancer, which includes rare but often quite complicated diseases to treat.

When Elísabet recently contacted me about consulting on a patient with very advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, we discovered a shared interest in learning more about this disease and its treatment. We also aimed to strengthen the multidisciplinary teamwork at our institution. I invited her to join me for this ESTRO skin cancer course in Kraków, keeping the multidisciplinary aspect in mind, and luckily, she accepted.

What aspects of the course were the most interesting, and why?

In general, we found it very practical. The course provides basic knowledge about diagnostics and treatment. It offers valuable insights into what our patients have gone through or might experience on their journey from diagnostic workup to treatment. Topics such as the differences between surgical and pathological margins and distinguishing between low- and high-risk lesions and patients were particularly helpful.

Vaka:
I appreciated that my knowledge of practical radiobiology was refreshed. This is something I can apply in my everyday work. Additionally, the lecturers presented many practical cases linked to theoretical topics, which made the content relatable and well-supported by helpful guidelines.

Elísabet:
Even though some of the radiotherapy lectures were too advanced for me to understand fully, I was happy to learn about the different types of treatments and grasp the basic principles.

As our institution is relatively small in a global context, with few people in each speciality, networking and discussion with other participants and lecturers were of great value during the course.

What advantage do you see in having different specialities from the same institution attending this course?

Attending this course together—as an oncologist and a dermatologist—has given us a common language, increased our knowledge in this field, and inspired us to improve our work both within our institution and nationally.

We have already initiated regular multidisciplinary tumour board meetings for non-melanoma skin cancer and have started to develop clinical guidelines for the diagnostic workup and treatment. In our opinion, this course has significantly enhanced our teamwork and we hope our attendance will lead to better outcomes for our patients.

We highly recommend this course to anyone looking to improve their knowledge of non-melanoma skin cancer, regardless of their level of experience. Participation from multiple specialities within a multidisciplinary tumour board is especially encouraged to maximise the benefits.

Vaka Yr Saevarsdóttir

Clinical oncologist, Radiotherapy Department

Landspitali University Hospital

Reykjavik, Iceland

vakayrs@landspitali.is

 

Elísabet Reykdal Jóhannesdóttir

Dermatologist, chief of dermatology

Landspitali University Hospital

Reykjavik, Iceland

slbeta@landspitali.is

 

• Perspectives from a radiographer
   

My name Is Marcus and I am a therapeutic radiographer specialising in skin cancer and pre-treatment at The Beacon Centre, Taunton, UK. In October I was fortunate to attend this course. This was my first experience of an ESTRO course and I was very excited at the prospect of learning from international peers as well as having the opportunity to meet and discuss ideas with the course organisers, who had put together a wide range of presentations and topics.

One thing that stood out for me was that I was in the company primarily of consultants and experts in the fields of systemic therapy, surgery, radiotherapy and supportive care. This meant that there was always something new to learn as the majority of presentations involved aspects of cancer that I do not routinely have exposure to. This was really reinforced by the multidisciplinary team-style case discussions, in which real patients and the benefits of collaboration to determine the best treatment plan were showcased. A particular interest of mine was the differences in treatment approaches that are seen as normal in some countries but in others cannot be considered; an example is the use and availability of systemic therapies that are not licensed in the UK under the National Health Service.

By the end of the course, I had met many of the attendees and had discussed cases and treatment options with them, compared experiences and gained much insight into how departments tackle complex cases across Europe and beyond. While the presentations were an excellent resource, the audience was an even better one.

This course was delivered previously in 2022, and I hope that it will be delivered again in future for those who want to expand not only their knowledge about the developments of skin cancer treatment and patient care but also to network with colleagues who have access to treatment techniques that are not available at all sites. For instance, there was a very interesting discussion regarding the revival of brachytherapy (interventional/interstitial radiotherapy) in recent years as well as how successful it can be. This knowledge may help to change the minds of those who have negative opinions of certain treatment techniques that historically had less favourable outcomes.

I’m very glad to have been a part of this course as it increased my understanding of treatments beyond radiotherapy and enabled me to better understand patients’ experiences and their pathways. I hope that this course can continue to expand, further improving the diagnosis, treatment, and patient care that we all strive to provide.

 

Marcus Dakers

Specialist therapeutic radiographer

Beacon Centre, Musgrove Park Hospital

Taunton, UK

Marcus.Dakers@SomerseFT.nhs.uk