Weber, D.C.; Abrunhosa-Branquinho, A.; Bolsi, A.; Kacperek, A.; Dendale, R.; Geismar, D.; Bachtiary, B.; Hall, A.; Heufelder, J.; Herfarth, K.; Debus, J.; Amichetti, M.; Krause, M.; Orecchia, R.; Vondracek, V.; Thariat, J.; Kajdrowicz, T.; Nilsson, K.; Grau, C.: Profile of European proton and carbon ion therapy centers assessed by the EORTC facility questionnaire. Radiotherapy & Oncology 124 (2017), p. 185-189
10.1016/j.radonc.2017.07.012
Abstract:
Background: We performed a survey using the modified EORTC Facility questionnaire (pFQ) to evaluate the human, technical and organizational resources of particle centers in Europe. Material and methods: The modified pFQ consisted of 235 questions distributed in 11 sections accessible on line on an EORTC server. Fifteen centers from 8 countries completed the pFQ between May 2015 and December 2015. Results: The average number of patients treated per year and per particle center was 221 (range, 40–557). The majority (66.7%) of centers had pencil beam or raster scanning capability. Four (27%) centers were dedicated to eye treatment only. An increase in the patients-health professional FTE ratio was observed for eye tumor only centers when compared to other centers. All centers treated routinely chordomas/- chondrosarcomas, brain tumors and sarcomas but rarely breast cancer. The majority of centers treated pediatric cases with particles. Only a minority of the queried institutions treated non-static targets. Conclusions: As the number of particle centers coming online will increase, the experience with this treatment modality will rise in Europe. Children can currently be treated in these facilities in a majority of cases. The majority of these centers provide state of the art particle beam therapy. 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Radiotherapy and Oncology 124 (2017) 185–189