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EPTN

European Particle Therapy Network (EPTN)

The European Particle Therapy Network (EPTN) became a task force of ESTRO in 2017. It was established in 2015 in response to the anticipated increase in the number of particle therapy centres in Europe. In addition, the need to cooperate among centres and integrate particles (i.e. protons and carbons) in the framework of clinical research networks was identified as being of paramount importance. ESTRO, at the time of initiation of the network, was asked to collaborate with EPTN and agreed to facilitate the group.

Particle therapy (PT) is only one part of radiation oncology, and needs to be well aligned with other radiation techniques as well as with general developments in cancer research and patient care. PT offers both new opportunities for providing excellence in cancer care, and for high-quality research within the framework of European  networks.

Organisation

The EPTN is led by three co-chairs and is composed of 8 working packages (WP) with experts of different topics to further elaborate the particle European discussions.
The EPTN meets once a year through the EPTN annual meeting.

The EPTN co-chairs are:

  • Cai Grau (Aarhus, DK) 
  • Damien Weber (Villigen, CH) 
  • Dietmar Georg (Vienna, AT)

The EPTN has its own internal standard operating procedure (SOP), covering its policies, aims, and organisation of the network.
Use this link to consult the EPTN SOP.

Save the date: 21-22 October 2024, Vienna, Austria!

The 10th European Particle Therapy Network (EPTN) Annual Meeting will take place on 22nd October 2024 in Vienna, Austria.

Workshops on topics of interest will take place the day before the annual meeting, on 21st October 2024 in Vienna.

Please monitor this page for updates, registration information and for the annual meeting agenda, coming soon.

The EPTN Annual Report of 2023, accommodating last year’s annual meeting, has been published and is accessible below.

We invite you to save the date and hope that you can join us in Vienna.

EPTN organisers:
Cai Grau (Aarhus, DK), Damien Weber (Villigen, CH), Dietmar Georg (Vienna, AT)

 

Each WP is structured with one or more coordinators and is thematically established to cover key challenges and developments related to the EPTN and its work. Some of the core responsibilities and aims of the WPs consist chiefly of engaging in trials, guidelines, white papers, and surveys, as well as establishing and hosting workshops and courses.
Below, each work package is listed with its own dedicated section, outlining its general organisational structure, as well as any particular developments and news from the work package.

Coordinators:
Hans Langendijk, The Netherlands
Karin Haustermans, Belgium

Coordinators:
Oliver Jäkel, Germany
Sairos Safai, Switzerland
Stefano Lorentini, Italy

Coordinators:
Morten Høyer, Denmark
Marco Schwarz, USA
Rita Simoes, UK

Coordinators:
Aswin Hoffmann, Germany
Alessandra Bolsi, Switzerland

Coordinators:
Christian Richter, Germany
Tony Lomax, Switzerland

Coordinators:
Brita Sørensen, Denmark
Armin Lühr, Germany

Coordinator:
Yolande Lievens, Belgium

Coordinators:
Esther Troost, Germany
Vincent Gregoire, France

 

EPTN Reports

EPTN Reports


EPTN Documents

 

EPTN Publications

  • Eekers DBP et al. Update of the EPTN atlas for CT- and MR-based contouring in Neuro-Oncology. Radiother Oncol 2021; 160: 259-265, 2021 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radonc.2021.05.013
  • Sørensen BS, et al. Does the uncertainty in relative biological effectiveness affect patient treatment in proton therapy? Radiother Oncol 2021;163:177–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radonc.2021.08.016
  • Heuchel L, et al. Is a variable proton RBE considered in clinical practice? - ESTRO survey among 25 proton centres. Radiother Oncol 161(Suppl.1) (2021) S313-314, DOI: 10.1016/S0167-8140(21)06904-8

  • De Roeck L, et al. The European particle therapy network (EPTN) consensus on the follow-up of adult patients with brain and skull base tumours treated with photon or proton irradiation. Radiother Oncol. 2022 Jan 27:S0167-8140(22)00021-4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radonc.2022.01.018

  • Heuchel L, et al. Clinical use and future requirements of relative biological effectiveness: Survey among all European proton therapy centres. Radiother Oncol 2022; 172, P134-139, July 01, 2022
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radonc.2022.05.015

  • Di Perri D, Hofstede D, Postma A, Zegers CML, In't Ven L, Hoebers F, van Elmpt W, Verheesen L, Beurskens H, Troost EGC, Compter I, Eekers DBP. Development of explanatory movies for the delineation of new organs at risk in neuro-oncology. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol. 2022 Feb 15;33:112-114. doi: 10.1016/j.ctro.2022.02.005. PMID: 35243021; PMCID: PMC8857542.
  • Vaassen F, Zegers CML, Hofstede D, Wubbels M, Beurskens H, Verheesen L, Canters R, Looney P, Battye M, Gooding MJ, Compter I, Eekers DBP, van Elmpt W. Geometric and dosimetric analysis of CT- and MR-based automatic contouring for the EPTN contouring atlas in neuro-oncology. Phys Med. 2023 Oct 7;114:103156. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmp.2023.103156. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37813050.
  • Crouzen JA, Petoukhova AL, Wiggenraad RGJ, Hutschemaekers S, Gadellaa-van Hooijdonk CGM, van der Voort van Zyp NCMG, Mast ME, Zindler JD. Development and evaluation of an automated EPTN-consensus based organ at risk atlas in the brain on MRI. Radiother Oncol. 2022 Aug;173:262-268. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2022.06.004. Epub 2022 Jun 15. PMID: 35714807.
  • Barcellini A, Massaro M, Dal Mas F, Langendijk JA, Høyer M, Calugaru V, Haustermans K, Timmermann B, Thariat J, Scartoni D, Vennarini S, Georg P, Orlandi E. A year of pandemic for European particle radiotherapy: A survey on behalf of EPTN working group. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol. 2022 Feb 24;34:1-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ctro.2022.02.004. PMID: 35243028; PMCID: PMC8885798.
  • Heuchel L, Hahn C, Pawelke J, Sørensen BS, Dosanjh M, Lühr A. Clinical use and future requirements of relative biological effectiveness: Survey among all European proton therapy centres Radiother Oncol 2022; 172, P134-139, July 01, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radonc.2022.05.015
  • Knopf AC, Czerska K, Fracchiolla F, Graeff C, Molinelli S, Rinaldi I, Rucincki A, Sterpin E, Stützer K, Trnkova P, Zhang Y, Chang JY, Giap H, Liu W, Schild SE, Simone CB 2nd, Lomax AJ, Meijers A. Clinical necessity of multi-image based (4DMIB) optimization for targets affected by respiratory motion and treated with scanned particle therapy - A comprehensive review. Radiother Oncol. 2022 Apr;169:77-85. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2022.02.018. Epub 2022 Feb 18. PMID: 35189152.
  • De Roeck L, van der Weide HL, Eekers DBP, Kramer MC, Alapetite C, Blomstrand M, Burnet NG, Calugaru V, Coremans IEM, Di Perri D, Harrabi S, Iannalfi A, Klaver YLB, Langendijk JA, Romero AM, Paulsen F, Roelofs E, de Ruysscher D, Timmermann B, Vitek P, Weber DC, Whitfield GA, Nyström PW, Zindler J, Troost EGC, Lambrecht M; work package 1 of the taskforce “European Particle Therapy Network” of ESTRO. The European Particle Therapy Network (EPTN) consensus on the follow-up of adult patients with brain and skull base tumours treated with photon or proton irradiation. Radiother Oncol. 2022 Mar;168:241-249. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2022.01.018. Epub 2022 Jan 29. PMID: 35093408.
  • Sørensen BS, Pawelke J, Bauer J, Burnet NG, Dasu A, Høyer M, Karger CP, Krause M, Schwarz M, Underwood TSA, Wagenaar D, Whitfield GA, Lühr A. Does the uncertainty in relative biological effectiveness affect patient treatment in proton therapy? Radiother Oncol. 2021 Oct;163:177-184. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2021.08.016. Epub 2021 Sep 1. PMID: 34480959.
  • Eekers DBP, Di Perri D, Roelofs E, Postma A, Dijkstra J, Ajithkumar T, Alapetite C, Blomstrand M, Burnet NG, Calugaru V, Compter I, Coremans IEM, Harrabi S, Iannalfi A, Klaver YLB, Lambrecht M, Romero AM, Paulsen F, Timmermann B, Vitek P, van der Weide HL, Whitfield GA, Nyström PW, Zindler J, de Ruysscher D, Langendijk J, Weber DC, Troost EGC. Update of the EPTN atlas for CT- and MR-based contouring in Neuro-Oncology. Radiother Oncol. 2021 Jul;160:259-265. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2021.05.013. Epub 2021 May 18. PMID: 34015385.
  • Weber DC, Langendijk JA, Grau C, Thariat J. Proton therapy and the European Particle Therapy Network: The past, present and future. Cancer Radiother. 2020 Oct;24(6-7):687-690. doi: 10.1016/j.canrad.2020.05.002. Epub 2020 Aug 1. PMID: 32753239; PMCID: PMC7395642.

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  • Grau C, Durante M, Georg D, Langendijk JA, Weber DC. Particle therapy in Europe. Mol Oncol. 2020 Jul;14(7):1492-1499. doi: 10.1002/1878-0261.12677. Epub 2020 Apr 22. PMID: 32223048; PMCID: PMC7332216.
  • Weber DC, Grau C, Lim PS, Georg D, Lievens Y. Bringing Europe together in building clinical evidence for proton therapy - the EPTN-ESTRO-EORTC endeavor. Acta Oncol. 2019 Oct;58(10):1340-1342. doi: 10.1080/0284186X.2019.1624820. Epub 2019 Jun 26. PMID: 31241391.
  • Langendijk JA, Orecchia R, Haustermans K, Zips D, Balosso J, Lacombe D, Lievens Y, Weber DC, Grau C, Troost EGC. Prospective data registration and clinical trials for particle therapy in Europe. Radiother Oncol. 2018 Jul;128(1):9-13. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2018.06.001. Epub 2018 Jul 7. PMID: 30056852.
  • Grau C, Baumann M, Weber DC. Optimizing clinical research and generating prospective high-quality data in particle therapy in Europe: Introducing the European Particle Therapy Network (EPTN). Radiother Oncol. 2018 Jul;128(1):1-3. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2018.06.021. PMID: 30049367.
  • Pötter R, Balosso J, Baumann M, Bert C, Davies J, Enghardt W, Fossati P, Harris S, Jones B, Krämer M, Mayer R, Mock U, Pullia M, Schreiner T, Dosanjh M, Debus J, Orecchia R, Georg D; ULICE Collaborative Research Group. Union of light ion therapy centers in Europe (ULICE EC FP7) - Objectives and achievements of joint research activities. Radiother Oncol. 2018 Jul;128(1):83-100. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2018.04.027. Epub 2018 Jul 9. PMID: 30001932.
  • Weber DC, Habrand JL, Hoppe BS, Hill Kayser C, Laack NN, Langendijk JA, MacDonald SM, McGovern SL, Pater L, Perentesis JP, Thariat J, Timmerman B, Yock TI, Mahajan A. Proton therapy for pediatric malignancies: Fact, figures and costs. A joint consensus statement from the pediatric subcommittee of PTCOG, PROS and EPTN. Radiother Oncol. 2018 Jul;128(1):44-55. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2018.05.020. Epub 2018 Jun 21. PMID: 29937209.
  • Dosanjh M, Jones B, Pawelke J, Pruschy M, Sørensen BS. Overview of research and therapy facilities for radiobiological experimental work in particle therapy. Report from the European Particle Therapy Network radiobiology group. Radiother Oncol. 2018 Jul;128(1):14-18. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2018.03.008. Epub 2018 Apr 24. PMID: 29703500.
  • Dosanjh M, Amaldi U, Mayer R, Poetter R; ENLIGHT Network. ENLIGHT: European network for Light ion hadron therapy. Radiother Oncol. 2018 Jul;128(1):76-82. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2018.03.014. Epub 2018 Apr 3. PMID: 29625810.
  • Bolsi A, Peroni M, Amelio D, Dasu A, Stock M, Toma-Dasu I, Nyström PW, Hoffmann A. Practice patterns of image guided particle therapy in Europe: A 2016 survey of the European Particle Therapy Network (EPTN). Radiother Oncol. 2018 Jul;128(1):4-8. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2018.03.017. Epub 2018 Mar 28. PMID: 29605478.
  • Eekers DBP, In 't Ven L, Deprez S, Jacobi L, Roelofs E, Hoeben A, Lambin P, de Ruysscher D, Troost EGC. The posterior cerebellum, a new organ at risk? Clin Transl Radiat Oncol. 2017 Nov 23;8:22-26. doi: 10.1016/j.ctro.2017.11.010. PMID: 29594239; PMCID: PMC5862675.
  • Eekers DB, In 't Ven L, Roelofs E, Postma A, Alapetite C, Burnet NG, Calugaru V, Compter I, Coremans IEM, Høyer M, Lambrecht M, Nyström PW, Méndez Romero A, Paulsen F, Perpar A, de Ruysscher D, Renard L, Timmermann B, Vitek P, Weber DC, van der Weide HL, Whitfield GA, Wiggenraad R, Troost EGC; “European Particle Therapy Network” of ESTRO. The EPTN consensus-based atlas for CT- and MR-based contouring in neuro-oncology. Radiother Oncol. 2018 Jul;128(1):37-43. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2017.12.013. Epub 2018 Mar 13. PMID: 29548560