Interdisciplinary practical training course on Brachytherapy (interventional RT) in cervical cancer

This Workshop will be organized in Rome, Italy at the Gemelli University Hospital. Local expert teams and guest faculty from the Medical University of Vienna will make a fundamental introduction in the basics of image-guided brachytherapy (interventional radiotherapy) in cervical cancer. The course precedes the advanced workshop on the same topic organized at the Medical University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria.

The course in Rome is based on patient’s journey and has an aim to help brachytherapy users to start with the combined IC/IS brachytherapy. Therefore the course begins with the multidisciplinary tumor board discussing management of patients with cervical cancer. After we will move to the practical aspects of the brachytherapy patients planning.

We will follow all steps of the journey of two consecutive brachytherapy patients, including:

• applicator selection,
• hands-on training with US-compatible phantom to insert applicator and needles under TRUS guidance,
• imaging,
• applicator reconstruction,
• practical sessions on CT-based contouring using the pre-brachy MRI,
• and treatment planning.

We also plan to demonstrate the brachy procedure in the OR with broadcast to the auditorium.

During the workshop the participants will be presented a comprehensive practical insight into the clinical workflow of 3D image-guided brachytherapy for cervical cancer. This course entails 60% of time dedicated to training of practical skills, and a tailor-made agenda based on participants needs.