Target 2012: Expanding the UK IMRT Service

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) is a highly conformal radiotherapy technique that uses some of the most advanced treatment technology available and has been shown to significantly reduce toxicity. Despite 97% of linear accelerators in England being IMRT enabled, very few centres offer the technique to more than a handful of patients per month. In 2009 the National Radiotherapy Advisory Group (NRAG) published a series of guidelines regarding the IMRT service provision in England. One of the targets in these guidelines was that by 2012 at least one centre in each cancer network should offer IMRT. The guidelines also suggested it should be available to patients who would benefit from it and estimated this equated to approximately 30% of radical treatments. On the 23rd February 2011 BIR’s “Target 2012: Expanding the UK IMRT Service” meeting was held. The aim of this meeting is to equip delegates with a better knowledge and awareness of the problems associated with the expansion of IMRT services and to help centres through the practicalities of the process. It was very well attended, being a 'sold-out' meeting, by a multidisciplinary audience with plenty of interactive discussion.

The presented material covered a variety of very salient issues including: where IMRT sat within the National cancer strategy and the ‘Improving Outcomes’ white paper, the enabling factors that had allowed some centre’s to have already increased their use of IMRT and clinical aspects (evidence review) to inform where energies might be best directed. A number of talks focused on dosimetry were given, these covered:  a project to improve the community knowledge base about IMRT dosimetry equipment and processes, a review of the 2009 IMRT audit and information about a pilot ‘rotational IMRT’ audit. The day was concluded with a number of proffered papers themed around ongoing work that was contributing towards achieving an expansion of IMRT services.

Andy Beavis
BIR Radiation Physics and Dosimetry Committee