PROFILE OF RADIOTHERAPY DEPARTMENTS CONTRIBUTING TO THE COOPERATIVE GROUP OF RADIOTHERAPY OF THE EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR RESEARCH AND TREATMENT OF CANCER
J. Bernier et al., PROFILE OF RADIOTHERAPY DEPARTMENTS CONTRIBUTING TO THE COOPERATIVE GROUP OF RADIOTHERAPY OF THE EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR RESEARCH AND TREATMENT OF CANCER, International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics, 34(4), 1996, pp. 953-960
Citations number
5
Categorie Soggetti
Oncology,"Radiology,Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Purpose: Since 1982, the Radiotherapy Group of the European Organizati
on for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) is carrying out a Qual
ity Assurance program that includes the evaluation of the structure an
d human resources of 50 centers actively participating in protocols of
clinical research in radiotherapy. Methods and Materials: One or two
site visits were made by a team of radiation physicists and physicians
, A detailed questionnaire was circulated to these radiotherapy center
s to collect and update standardized figures on the status and activit
ies of each center, to clarify some obscurities encountered during on-
site visits, and to extend investigations to issues that were not addr
essed during local audits. Results: This article reports on department
al infrastructure, staff and equipment workload, and quality control p
rocedures carried out by single institutions, Large variations in equi
pment and staff are observed among participating centers, Comparisons
between data collected in the early 1980s and during a recent update s
how no difference in workload per megavoltage equipment and per simula
tor, The number of cancer patients treated per year per radiotherapist
seems to slightly diminish, especially in centers that experienced a
considerable staff shortage a few years ago, The most significant impr
ovement is observed for the number of cases treated per year per membe
r of the radiation physics team, The radiographer's workload shows an
opposite trend. Conclusions: Our database provides participating cente
rs with strong comparative arguments to correct staff and equipment un
balances and to convince administrative authorities of priorities in d
ecision making, The current analysis shows that the situation for equi
pment is unchanged in comparison with that observed 6 years ago, Effor
ts have to be put forth in some institutions to reduce the workload at
simulators, A tentative profile and guidelines for minimum recommenda
tions for European radiotherapy departments involved in clinical resea
rch are presented.