Cancer is a central health problem for our society and is, unfortunately, set to spiral, as cancer cases increase worldwide.
A large fraction of patients treated for cancer receive radiation therapy, most often together with other treatment modalities as a part of a holistic treatment approach. Most cancer radiation treatments, worldwide, are delivered with high-energy X-rays. However, hadron therapy, also known as particle therapy, using protons and heavier ions, is an emerging effective modality that has many advantages. Namely, proton and heavy ion beams can irradiate tumors by focusing precisely on cancerous tissue whilst sparing healthy tissue around it, making the treatment more effective than any other irradiation treatment, and in some cases the only option.
Due to this, the European Union, through its H2020 research and innovation program, is funding the Heavy Ion Therapy Research Integration (HITRIplus) project supporting, technical advancements, transnational acces, networking, dissemination and education in heavy ion therapy research.
Hence, HITRIplus supports a 4-days international Symposium on Hadron Therapy, in Thessaloniki. It will take place between the 18th and 21st of October 2024, in hybrid mode, and is free of charge. The lectures will be recorded and made freely available online.
It includes (a) a 2-days workshop, on 18-19 October, focusing on reviewing the current status and future plans for developments of existing hadron therapy facilities driven by clinical requirements, (b) a 1-day Treatment Planning MasterClass on 21 October, including the resulting requirements on the accelerating complex and demos (c) students' sessions and networking events for newcomers in the Heavy Ion Therapy Research including career opportunities.
The lectures will be delivered by over 20 world-leading experts in the field. They will cover a broad spectrum, from the principles of hadron therapy and radiobiology to experiences of the European running hadron therapy centres and their future plans, including specific indications for hadron therapy such as head and neck, sarcoma and others. Dedicated sessions will address pediatrics as well as emerging methods, such as combinations of hadron therapy with immunotherapy and FLASH therapy, highlighting also unfolding research avenues and the related necessary technical advancements on the accelerator and beam delivery systems.
They are primarily intended to acquaint participants with hadrontherapy as well as students specializing or considering specializing in related fields, including accelerator physics, medical physics, biophysics. The ultimate goal is to address and prepare motivated professionals, as well as early-stage researchers and students who show strong promise and interest in becoming part of the heavy ion therapy research community and who may then optimally exploit and access Europe's heavy ion therapy research infrastructures. Hence, the Hadron Therapy Symposium benefits from other events that bring such communities in Thessaloniki, such as the Aristotle Medical Forum, which will take place in the adjusent venue.
