From the opening UKRO session at UKRCO 2018 (2-4 July), ‘Choosing the right treatment for the right patient at the right time’ to the principle closing plenary lecture, ‘Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) for metastatic cancers: New standard, or false hope?’, this year’s conference promises to be an exciting and stimulating event for all professionals involved in the delivery of radiation oncology care and treatment to patients.
UKRCO 2018 is a joint congress offering delegates the opportunity to access a vast body of data in diagnostic imaging and radiation oncology across professional disciplines and industry. UKRO (United Kingdom Radiation Oncology) papers will be delivered by a diverse mix of leading professionals from across the globe, including clinical oncologists, therapeutic radiographers, radiotherapy physicists, clinical radiobiologists, clinical technologists, dosimetrists and oncology nurses.
Anthony Zietman, Radiation Oncologist, Massachusetts General Hospital, USA, will open the first UKRO session on Monday 2 July. He will look at the intrinsic frailty of the ‘super-elders’ in western societies and their vulnerability to standard multi-modality treatments for cancer. He will propose that they should be treated completely differently to other groups of adults.
Anthony will also be presenting a thought-provoking paper on the final day of Congress – Protons: Should all radiotherapy treatments be delivered by proton therapy? – which is expected to generate some spirited discussions.
Chris Pointon, co-founder and global campaign ambassador, hellomynameis.org.uk will also be speaking at the opening of UKRO. His lecture is entitled ‘The #hellomynameis story - through adversity comes legacy’.
“My inspiring wife Dr Kate Granger MBE, along with myself, came up with a social media campaign that has gone on to revolutionise patient care across global healthcare. This session will take you on the journey from the conception of #hellomynameis to how it now fits within healthcare, and how Kate’s legacy continues through the work I do and the numerous accolades named after her,” Chris says.
Also, on the first day, delegates can look forward to a stimulating session on patient safety in radiotherapy, featuring James Titcombe OBE, Patient Safety Specialist in the UK, who will present a paper entitled ‘Assurance is never enough’.
The radiotherapy board session on Tuesday afternoon will include a presentation from Tom Roques, Consultant Clinical Oncologist and Clinical Lead for Radiotherapy at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the UK, who asks: ‘Peer review – what’s the implication for service providers?’. Following on, ‘Barriers to remote access: Risks, governance and solutions for facilitating IT connectivity in radiotherapy planning’ will be discussed by Andrew J Reilly, Head of Radiotherapy Physics, North West Cancer Centre, UK and finally, Yat Man Tsang, Consultant Radiographer – Specialised Service Delivery, Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust in the UK, will talk to delegates about the therapeutic radiographer’s role – (SABR) treatment and beyond.
UK clinical trials in the spotlight on final day is chaired by Elizabeth Miles, Coordinator National Radiotherapy Trials QA (RTTQA) Group, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, UK. Justine Tyler, Principal Radiotherapy Physicist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in the UK, will ask: ‘Does the size of CTV-PTV margin in dysphagia-optimised intensity modulated radiotherapy (Do-IMRT) affect the quality of plan produced in the DARS head and neck cancer randomised trial? -
In the same session, Rita Simoes, Radiotherapy Radiographer, National Radiotherapy Trials Quality Assurance (RTTQA) Group, UK, will present ‘Planning benchmark cases for IMRiS phase II trial: Will different optimisation techniques in bone sarcomas impact on clinical outcomes?’.
‘Standardising practice for solitary bone plasmacytoma radiotherapy through the IDRIS (NCT02544308) trial’ will be presented by Patricia Diez, Clinical Scientist, National Radiotherapy Trials Quality Assurance (RTTQA) Group, Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, UK and Amanda Webster, Therapeutic Radiographer, National Radiotherapy Trials Quality Assurance Group, Mount Vernon Cancer, UK will present ‘A survey of UK bladder imaging practice: Pre-trial quality assurance for RAIDER phase II trial of adaptive image guided bladder radiotherapy’.
The first lecture in the closing plenary presentation on 4 July, will feature David Palma, Radiation Oncologist at the London Health Sciences Centre and a Clinician-Scientist with the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Canada. Following on, Daniel Gomez, Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA, will discuss SABR for Oligoprogressive disease – helping systemic therapy go the extra mile.
Throughout the event, a wide range of speakers will be covering topics including cancer immunotherapy for beginners; patient safety in radiotherapy – radiotherapy errors and near misses; RT and immunotherapy trials, a European perspective; MR imaging planning; how social media research can contribute to improving the care and support of radiotherapy patients; implications of the new IRMER regulations in radiotherapy; role extensions – a manager’s perspective; adaptive radiotherapy, an update of next generation radiotherapy treatment; workforce challenges in therapeutic radiography; and many more!
There will also be a display of nearly 300 posters from a variety of disciplines for both UKRC and UKRO. This vast source of latest information will demonstrate cutting edge research and treatments, service innovations, results of local intervention schemes and more.
UKRCO 2018, organised by the Society & College of Radiographers (SCoR), the British Institute of Radiology (BIR) and the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM), will be held at the ACC and Exhibition Centre in Liverpool from 2-4 July.
This year’s theme, ‘Disease and Diversity’ offers delegates a comprehensive and challenging scientific and educational programme, comprising a wide range of sessions and formats.