ESTRO 2025 - Abstract Book

S2288

Interdisciplinary – Health economics & health services research

ESTRO 2025

1682

Proffered Paper Determining meaningful benefit of radiotherapy innovations: a Delphi study to prioritise level of evidence and outcomes in innovation appraisal. Miet Vandemaele 1 , Marianne Aznar 2 , Pierre Blanchard 3 , Josep M Borras 4,5 , Michelle Leech 6,7 , Yolande Lievens 1,8 , Ajay Aggarwal 9,10 1 Department of Human Structure and Repair, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. 2 Division of Cancer Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom. 3 Department of Radiation Oncology, Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus, Oncostat U1018 INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, Gustave-Roussy, Villejuif, France. 4 Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. 5 Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain. 6 Applied Radiation Therapy Trinity, Discipline of Radiation Therapy, School of Medicine, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. 7 2. Trinity St. James’s Cancer Institute, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. 8 Department of Radiation Oncology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. 9 Institute of Cancer Policy, King's College London, London, United Kingdom. 10 Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom Purpose/Objective: There is significant adoption diffusion of a variety of innovations in radiotherapy, some of which are likely to deliver clinically meaningful benefits (high-value), and others limited benefit (low-value). The ESTRO Value-Based Radiation Oncology (VBRO) project has set out to provide a transparent framework for appraising the value of innovations to support policymaking and improve access to evidence-based therapies. This abstract presents a Delphi consensus building study as to the expected level of evidence and endpoints for evaluation to support clinical use. Material/Methods: In prior work of the ESTRO-VBRO project, radiotherapy interventions are categorised into four groups: Radiation centred, Radiation-enabling, Drug-centred radiation and Operational radiation interventions [1]; and study designs and endpoints used in radiotherapy research were identified [2] (Figure 1). A modified Delphi consensus process (Figure 1) engaged the radiation oncology community, recruiting active ESTRO board, committee and council members. In two online rounds and a third interactive in-person round, panellists rated study designs and endpoints as acceptable for appraisal for each category using a seven-point Likert scale. Study designs and endpoints that achieved acceptance (consensus ≥75%) were subsequently reviewed and discussed by the panellists, and ranked in order of priority by individual voting.