Radiotherapy is ‘undervalued’ and ‘needs greater investment’ according to a new report published today commissioned by the Marie Curie Legacy Campaign—an initiative of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) and the ESTRO Cancer Foundation (ECF).
‘Radiotherapy saves lives—either used alone or in combination with other types of cancer treatment,’ says report author, Yolande Lievens, Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, Ghent University Hospital, and Past-President of ESTRO. ‘Currently, radiotherapy is recommended as part of treatment for more than 50% of cancer patients, but across Europe, at least a quarter of people who need radiotherapy do not receive it. This is wholly unacceptable and a missed opportunity for cancer patients.’
Entitled Radiotherapy: seizing the opportunity in cancer care, the white paper recommends a five point plan to boost uptake of radiotherapy and calls on all stakeholders—governments and policymakers, healthcare professionals, patients and professional societies, along with national and international research funds—to become ‘radiotherapy ambassadors’ to help raise awareness of the benefits of radiotherapy and secure its valuable position in comprehensive, optimal cancer care.
The report’s authors cite shortages of high-quality equipment, variations in training, insufficient integration of radiotherapy into treatment plans, lack of investment in research, lack of general understanding of radiotherapy as a cancer treatment and misconceptions regarding the safety of radiotherapy among the important factors contributing to radiotherapy’s poor image and underuse.
The report’s five key recommendations are:
- Make radiotherapy a central component of cancer care in policies, planning and budgets
- Achieve recognition of all radiotherapy professions and harmonise education and training standards across Europe
- Invest in research and use of data to continuously improve radiotherapy outcomes for patients and maximise the potential of innovation
- Fully integrate radiotherapy into treatment planning and decision-making
- Help improve general awareness and understanding of radiotherapy to ensure it can achieve its full potential for patient care
In 2018, 4.23 million people received a cancer diagnosis in Europe3 – and the incidence of cancer is increasing. The demand for radiotherapy is expected to see a 16% increase by 2025.4,5
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