CHAIRS

Victor Hernandez (Hospital Sant Joan de Reus, Spain)

Alessandro Scaggion (Veneto Institute of Oncology, Padua, Italy)

 

MOTIVATION

At the forefront of radiation therapy innovation are intensity modulated plans, known for their inherent complexity and impact on treatment accuracy, patient safety, and resource allocation. Despite this, complexity is frequently underestimated or disregarded.

Plan complexity must be recognized as a primary evaluation parameter and seamlessly integrated into treatment planning systems. This integration should include computation of appropriate metrics, minimization within the optimization process, and comprehensive reporting, thereby improving the entire radiotherapy workflow.

This workshop aims to standardize the computation of complexity metric and establish guidelines for assessing, controlling, and mitigating plan complexity in clinical treatment plans. Its main objectives include:

  • Consensus-building on relevant complexity metrics and plan parameters.
  • Fostering collaboration and facilitating the sharing and dissemination of open-ended computation tools, including scripts.
  • Provision of reference datasets to expedite the validation and benchmarking of plan complexity computations.
  • Advancing the integration of complexity metrics into commercial TPSs and associated QA platforms.
  • Advocating for the adoption of standardized solutions in treatment planning (class solutions) to diminish variability in clinical plans and reduce the need for measurement-based pre-treatment verifications.

This workshop presents an excellent opportunity to collaborate with colleagues involved in the development and utilization of plan complexity tools, as well as for physicists engaged in treatment planning studies. It will also be useful to medical physicists interested in harmonizing treatment planning processes and streamlining PSQA verifications.

While prior expertise in plan complexity is not mandatory, all participants are expected to engage in multicentric comparisons and collaborate within working groups formed during the workshop.

 

PRELIMINARY PROGRAM

PRE-MEETINGS:

1 or 2 online meetings will be scheduled before the on-site meeting. Participants will be asked to give a 5 mins pitch about their experience/motivation on the topic.

 

ON-SITE PROGRAM:

The on-site activity will be covered during four main sessions  

  • Plan complexity: Current situation and challenges
  • Clinical applications and implementation in TPSs
  • Plan Complexity Metrics: Predictive value and relationship with PSQA
  • Future directions and standardization initiative

 

INVITED SPEAKERS:

Jeroen Van de Kamer - Department of Radiation Oncology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands