ESTRO 2025 - Abstract Book

S3690

Physics - Quality assurance and auditing

ESTRO 2025

1 Physics, St. Lukes Radiation Oncology Network, Dublin, Ireland. 2 Research, Irish Research Radiation Oncology Group (IRROG), Dublin, Ireland. 3 Radiation Oncology, St. Lukes Radiation Oncology Network, Dublin, Ireland. 4 Applied Radiation Therapy Trinity, Discipline of Radiation Therapy, Trinity St. James's Cancer Institute, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. 5 Physics, Beacon Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. 6 Physics, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Belfast, Ireland. 7 Physics, Galway Univeristy Hospital, Galway, Ireland. 8 Radiation Therapy, Bons Secours UPMC, Cork, Ireland. 9 Radiation Therapy, Beacon Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. 10 Radiation Oncology, Cork University Hospital, Cork, Ireland. 11 Physics, Cork University Hospital, Cork, Ireland Purpose/Objective: Clinical trials are essential to advancing the quality of radiation oncology treatments. Medical Physicists play a crucial role in clinical trial development. However, balancing trial commitments with the demands of clinical workloads presents significant challenges for physicists. Protected time is a means of ensuring their ability to contribute meaningfully to the quality assurance of clinical trials. Material/Methods: To address this challenge, we secured grant funding supporting a 0.6 whole time equivalent (WTE) senior physicist post for five years. The role is supported through the Irish Research Radiation Oncology Group (IRROG). This position provides dedicated, protected time for clinical trial related activities, with the aim of enhancing participation in both national and international trials, fostering new trial initiatives, strengthening collaborative networks and ensuring a high level of quality assurance across radiotherapy trials. Results: The structured time allocation has directly supported the growth of clinical trials nationally leading to an increased number of patients enrolled in clinical trials. As well as enrolling in a number of international clinical trials, we have developed and are running the RTQA programmes for 3 Investigator Initiated Trials (IITs) to provide credentialing approval to sites wishing to join these trials, and we are involved at the earlier stage of trial design and protocol writing for another 2 IIT’s (see figure 1). Collaborative efforts with other institutions including both medical physicists and research radiation therapists have expanded both nationally and internationally. We are currently establishing a national RTQA programme to streamline activation of IITs across all Irish radiotherapy sites and have joined the Global Harmonisation Group, in order to further integrate our work into international standards. Figure 1 outlines the change in the number of IITs opening across Irish radiotherapy sites since the introduction of the IRROG and includes projections for sites which plan to open radiotherapy IITs in the future facilitated through the national RTQA programme.