ESTRO meets Asia 2024 - Abstract Book

S134

Interdisciplinary – Global health

ESTRO meets Asia 2024

passenger car along the shortest route from the patient's residency to the radiotherapy center were calculated using the viamichelin route planner. The same was done for patients who had to travel to the radiotherapy center by ship or aircraft but using the myclimate.org calculator. Calculations and assumptions about emissions are in accordance with the European standard DIN EN 16258. Please note that emissions are calculated per vehicle kilometer (vkm) and not per passenger kilometer (pkm), for which an average usage rate should be assumed. The database for the climate balance calculations is taken from ecoinvent 3.10 and the IPCC 2013 (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) assessment method. Considering that statistical values are used in the calculations, a margin of uncertainty of ±10% is added to ship emissions and ±5% to aircraft emissions.

Results:

Data were collected from patients who, in the period between January 2021 and December 2023, had their consult, CT simulation and first treatment within 24 hours (5%, 7% and 6% in 2021, 2022 and 2023). In the three years under review, 3% of patients were treated within 12 hours from first access to the cancer center. Thanks to the CQI-related procedures for the improvement of TT over the suggested period, patients who were visited, simulated, and treated within 12h saved several kilometers of travel to and from the center. The transport analysis showed that a total of 2590 km were travelled by car, ship, and plane. The Kg of CO2 equivalent of the round trips made by the patients between the medical examination and the start of treatment from their residence to the radiotherapy center was 252.4 kg by car: 467 kg by ship and 160 kg by plane. Considering the minimum travel required for the patient to perform the treatment we can say that we saved a total amount of 1.76 tons of CO2 equivalent produced by the trips.

Conclusion:

Implementing Quality processes to treat urgent/emergent patients in 12h can positively impact the reduction of the carbon footprint in a radiotherapy cancer center. Future study will investigate other aspects of carbon footprint reduction as waste management or energy management

Keywords: carbon footprint, eco-sustainability, radiotherapy