ESTRO 2023 - Abstract Book

S445

Sunday 14 May 2023

ESTRO 2023

The executing institutes could successfully implement the online provided material and tune it to their own specialized expertise. The PTMC with matRad further was also used for University level courses, such as the Heavy Ion Therapy Masterclass School 2021 or the Specialised Course on Heavy Ion Cancer Therapy Research 2022. Conclusion The PTMC successfully engaged and connected international pupils. The provided material proved to be adaptable and sufficient for institutes to hold their own Masterclass on different educational levels. In conclusion, the PTMC provides a versatile framework for education and outreach to the general public as well as academia. MO-0564 Changes in health-related quality of life in Head and Neck Patients Who Received Proton Therapy Y.H. Chen 1 , C. Uyl-de Groot 1 , M. van Vulpen 2 , H. Blommestein 1 1 Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; 2 Holland Proton Therapy Center, Holland Proton Therapy Center, Delft, The Netherlands Purpose or Objective In comparison to current standard photon irradiation, proton therapy significantly reduced the dose to the surrounding normal tissue and therefore is expected to reduce toxicity and improve patients’ health-related quality of life. Despite the high expectations of proton therapy, there is very limited data on patients’ utility after radiotherapy. The aim of this study was to estimate the changes in utility, patient-reported function and symptom score over time of patients receiving proton therapy. Materials and Methods A questionnaire-based (consisting of EORTC-QLQ-C30, EQ-5D, and EORTC-H&N-35) prospective Institutional Review Board approved cohort study was performed in a Dutch proton therapy center (HollandPTC)). Head and neck cancer patients who received proton therapy between January 2020 to August 2022 were enrolled in this study. The questionnaires were distributed before the proton therapy, at the end of proton therapy, six months, one year, and two years after treatment. The trends of utility and global health status changes were analyzed. The generalized estimating equation model was used to analyze the association between utility and proton therapy, patient characteristics and radiation-related toxicities. Results Our results revealed that the average utility score (range 0-1.0) of head and neck cancer patients before proton therapy was around 0.79 (95% Cl: 0.74 - 0.83) (Figure 1). At the end of proton therapy, the patients’ utility decreased slightly (0.1 points) compared to the baseline. However, this dip was recovered after six months and showed a further improvement one year after the treatment. A similar trend was also observed in patients’ global health status.