PROFILE OF RADIOTHERAPY DEPARTMENTS CONTRIBUTING TO THE COOPERATIVE GROUP OF RADIOTHERAPY OF THE EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR RESEARCH AND TREATMENT OF CANCER

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.