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ESTRO Teaching Course on

MODERN BRACHYTHERAPY TECHNIQUES

Athens, Greece, 28 March - 1 April 1993

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME

Director : A. Gerbaulet

Local Ofganiser : N. Throuvalas, Athens

Course Coordinafor : Germaine Heeren

Course Aim : Brachytherapy is a fast developing treatment modality presently being started up at a large number of radiotherapy departments and oncological centers. This course will try to meet the huge demand for theoretical and practical training in the field of brachytherapy. It is mainly geared towards the practical aspects of brachytherapy but also covers general topics such as the different afterloading systems, radioprotection, dosimetry, source specification and the radiobiology of the dose rate effects. A large part of the course is dedicated to the different localisations, analysed separately with their specific aspects and technical problems. Lecturing time will be restricted to 5 hours per day. This way a lot of time will be left for discussion, enabling the participants to have extensive contacts with the teaching staff.

PROGRAMME

1. One third of the time will be dedicated to the basis of Brachytherapy : historical notes with clinical and physical aspects, definitions and general indications, sources, radioprotection, manual and remote after- loading systems, dosimetry, radiobiology, organisation of BT, imaging and BT.

2. Two thirds of the time will be devoted to clinical applications includirtg practical and technical aspects of brachytherapy site by site, main indications of BT, results obtained by BT alone or combined with other treatment modalities.

Subjects to be covered : gynaecology : edometrium, cervix, vagina ; head and neck : floor of the mounth, mobile tongue, soft palate, base of tongue, masopharynx, node ; breast ; digestive tract ; urology ; skin ; sof? tissue sarcomas; pediatric malignancies.

During each session, one third of the time will be reserved for discussions on practical and technical aspects of BT, using video and/or practical demonstrations.

A technical exhibition linked to the course will give the participants the opportunity to familiorize themselves with the tools and equipment of BT.

Contact address : ESTRO Secretariat Dept. of Radiotherapy University Hospital St. Rafael Capucijnenvoer 35 3000 Leuven, Belgium Tel : 32.16.33.64.13 - Fax : 32.16.33.64.28