By Dr Keith Langmack (chair) and the Revd Dr Mike Kirby; BIR RT and Oncology SIG committee.
In 2020, the BIR’s Radiotherapy and Oncology Special Interest Group committee received requests from industry partners and radiotherapy professionals to hold a focused, multidisciplinary national meeting on solely radiotherapy and oncology. Plans were well placed until…..COVID struck! And we’re all familiar with the effect the pandemic had on our professions and, not least, our patients.
But in 2021 we launched the first one, albeit a fully online, virtual event. It began a series of annual UK meetings, covering a wide range of state-of-the-art topics and themes, with invited and proffered talks, ePosters, teaching sessions, plenary keynote and prize presentations – all shared by clinicians, radiographers, physicists, dosimetrists, engineers and others. The meetings were summarised in a poster at the Association for Radiation Research’s (thearr.org.uk) annual conference 2025 (DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.13459.80169) alongside a dedicated BIR/ARR collaborative session on Radiotherapy.
Previous meetings have included:
- Prize lectures for the BIR’s Medal of Outstanding International Achievement. In 2023, Prof Soren Bentzen, speaking on ‘Radiation Oncology in the era of data science’ and this year Prof Marco Durante giving an overview on ‘New Frontiers in Particle Therapy’.
- A focus on the Patient Voice: with plenary sessions now considered central to our meetings. One can lose sight of the person at the centre of the treatment – the patient, when discussing amazing technological advancements in Radiotherapy. These sessions help bring the patient back front and centre – with notable and striking talks from (in 2022) a gynaecology clinical nurse specialist undergoing treatment for gynaecological cancer herself; and this year an incredibly powerful talk from a patient discussing her personal experiences with the late effects of head and neck radiotherapy.
- Talks on adaptive radiotherapy: a topic which has featured since the inception of these meetings. Adapting the treatment dose distribution to daily changes in anatomy, whilst the patient is on the treatment couch, could be a game-changer for tumours very close to critical structures. As the technology to do so becomes more available, this will become a practical benefit to more patients.
- Discussions on Artificial Intelligence: for as well as influencing radiological procedures, AI is playing a growing role in Radiotherapy – through treatment planning and in making adaptive radiotherapy practical. Our 2024 meeting devoted a day to AI education – from the basics of AI to its practical use in contouring, planning and beyond. Its feature in future meetings is highly likely.
BIR President, Dr Nick Screaton, said: ‘Since 2020 we have been working with radiotherapy and oncology colleagues to create a space for them to meet, share ideas and evolve. We bring together entire radiotherapy and imaging communities - along with all the teams involved—to collaborate more effectively, and ultimately improve patient care. Our multidisciplinary approach is what sets us apart. We look forward to welcoming you to our annual two-day meeting next year.”
Dates for BIRTO26 are 12-13 February, and abstract call is OPEN; closing date 17 October. The meeting promises to be another packed event, with sessions on patient experience, new modalities, adaptive radiotherapy and more; including the ARR hosting their own session of complementary material.
Come and network, learn and share your own radiotherapy and oncology research and development. Find out more on the event page.
Above: BIR President Dr Nick Screaton awards the 2024 BIR Medal of Outstanding International Achievement to Prof Marco Durante
Above: Dr Keith Langmack, chair of the BIR RT and Oncology SIG Committee, welcomes and opens #BIRTO25
