ESTRO 2025 - Abstract Book

S2167

Interdisciplinary – Education in radiation oncology

ESTRO 2025

Purpose/Objective: War creates unprecedented conditions for cancer care. In 2024/5, 15 cancer centers in Ukraine replaced Co60-units with their first linac. Ukraine has a pressing need for more staff with proficient training in modern therapeutic equipment for contemporary techniques. A novel strategic approach, Ukraine Personalised Project (UPP), customizes knowledge and skills development during wartime to meet clinical needs, safety and efficiency. Material/Methods: In 2024, two public oncology centers in Ukraine: Precarpathian Clinical Oncology Center (PCOC) and Clinical Center for Oncology Cherkasy (CCOC) received their first linac, Elekta Harmony. Since resources are scarce and access to education suboptimal during invasion, a partnership with Help Ukraine Group (HUG) and ACPSEM was established. Elekta provided free remote access to Monaco planning. A total of 12 radiation-oncologists, 5 medical-physicists from two Ukrainian hospitals enrolled. These centers in Ukraine and Australia have Elekta technologies and Sun Nuclear dosimetry equipment. Several Australians in the team have lived experience of treating with Cobalt. Initially Teams meetings (tutorials, practical) and independent homework occured weekly, but gradually built to 2-3 meetings of 1-3 hour duration/week on dosimetry, QA of contours/plans from Ukrainian and Australian centers created via Monaco. Currently, two hospitals are independently contouring and planning in Monaco (under supervision), 3times/week, taking a problem-based approach to learning. Panel discussion around plan review guides improvements. UPP was evaluated by survey of 12 radiation-oncologists and 5 medical-physicists at 2centers. Self-reported views on value for professional development, challenges, content and time spent on contouring/planning were evaluated.

Results:

All responders were positive about the value and content of the program. The language barrier is overcome in small group meetings. According to survey, for radiation-oncologists, topics/challenges include: confidence in contouring, OAR margins and target volumes at different localizations; treatment positioning; CTsimulation protocols; pre-radiotherapy preparation. For medical-physicists, topics/challenges include: planning for different localizations (3D,IMRT); water phantoms and dosimetry, especially small-fields; practical dosimetry with linac. Such questions are symptomatic of the huge leap from Cobalt units to linac – something most did over 50 years. The evaluation of the course will be repeated in 6 months. It is anticipated that the project will be rolled-out to other Ukrainian centers.