About this Event
The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute working in partnership with UPMC CancerCenter and CTSI Oncology Practice Solutions now offers a comprehensive 3-day course on the clinical implementation of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR, also known as SBRT). The course is intended for the entire clinical team, consisting of radiation oncologists, surgeons, and medical physicists. A panel of internationally recognized expert physicians and physicists will provide a comprehensive review of radiosurgery, including lectures in neuroanatomy, radiation biology, and quality assurance. The course will also review the latest technical advancements in imaging, immobilization, gating, and high dose rate delivery modes. Attendees will be able to directly observe tumor boards, patient simulations, and clinical delivery of SRS/SABR treatments on several different SRS/SABR platforms. Finally, attendees will get guided hands-on practice in the advanced treatment planning techniques for SRS/SABR.
The benefits of using UPMC’s program include:
Training at a leading and one of the busiest SRS/SABR programs in the world
Building confidence in how to develop referral sources
Surgeons receiving training in target delineation & plan evaluation
Learning how to ensure the accuracy of small field dosimetry
Course Faculty:
• Dwight E. Heron, MD, MBA, FACRO, FACR, (Course Director)
• M. Saiful Huq, PhD, FAAPM, FInstP, Physicist
• Barton F. Branstetter IV, MD
• John C. Flickinger, MD, Radiation Oncologist
• Nduka Amankulor, MD, Neurosurgeon
• Ronald Lalonde, PhD, Physicist
• Neil Christie, MD, Thoracic Surgeon
• Amy Readshaw MS, Physicist
• Kim Hodges, R.T.(R)(T), CPC
Day 1 – Pittsburgh, PA
7:30 – 8:00 am Breakfast
8:00 Welcome Remarks – Dr. Heron
8:00 - 9:15 Introduction to SRS and SABR: Clinical rationale for SRS/SABR- Dr. Heron
• Broad overview of SRS, SABR, including historical perspectives and impact of new TrueBeam technology.
9:15 - 9:45 Clinical workflow – Ron Lalonde
• Staffing and training considerations
9:45 - 10:00 Break
10:00 -10:45 Imaging for SABR- Ron Lalonde
• Imaging modalities for SABR planning will be discussed, as well as the use of imaging for patient setup (IGRT).
11:45 - 12:00 Patient Selection for SABR- Dr. Heron
• Indications for cranial and extra-cranial application of SABR, advantages and limitations of SABR, clinical outcomes evidence, and instructive cases.
• Dose guidelines
12:00 - 1:00 Lunch (provided)
1:00 - 2:00 Treatment Observation Video – Dr. Huq
2:00 - 3:00 Radiologic Skull Base Anatomy – Dr. Branstetter
• Critical Concepts for Radiation Therapy
3:00-3:30 Multidisciplinary Applications of Radiosurgery into a Neurosurgical Practice – Dr. Amankulor
3:30 - 4:45 Mock Tumor Board (Neuro) – Dr. Heron & Dr. Amankulor
4:45 - 5:45 Mock Tumor Board (Lung) – Dr. Heron & Dr. Christie
Day 2– Pittsburgh, PA
8:00 - 8:30 Breakfast
8:30 - 9:45 Motion management for SABR (lecture) – Dr. Huq
• The effects of internal target motion in SABR are discussed, as well as strategies for assessing motion and limiting motion, including gating and compression frames.
• Application of motion management to TrueBeam, Trilogy
9:45 - 10:30 QA for SABR (lecture) - Ron Lalonde
• Discussion of all aspects of SABR QA/QC, including commissioning of small fields/high dose rate beams, MLC QA, IGRT QA.
• Safety considerations in SABR
10:30 - 10:45 Break
10:45 - 11:30 Motion management for SABR-4D CT/Motion management for SABR
(Video) - Dr. Huq
11:30 - 12:30 Billing – Kim Hodges
12:30 – 1:30 Lunch
1:30 - 2:45 Good Plans/Bad Plans- - Dr. Heron & Ron Lalonde
• Presentation of sample radiosurgery plans showing result of different planning approaches.
• Comparison plans shown for cranial and extracranial applications
2:45 - 3:00 Break
3:00- 4:00 Radiobiological Review – Dr. Flickinger
• Lecture covering radiobiological concepts of SRS, SABR, critical structure tolerances and toxicity.
4:00 Physicist Break / Neurosurgeons & Rad Oncologist end of Day
4:15 - 6:00 QA for SABR (Hands on) – Ron Lalonde
Physicist only
Day 3– Pittsburgh, PA
8:00 - 8:30 am Breakfast
8:30 - 10:00 Treatment Planning for SABR (lecture) - Ron Lalonde
• Discussion of SABR planning, including tools and modalities available in Varian Eclipse system for MLC-based SABR, including conformal field (3D), IMRT and VMAT (RapidArc) techniques.
10:00 - 10:15 Break
10:15 - 11:30 Treatment Planning for SABR (hands-on) - Dr. Heron & Ron Lalonde
• Hands-on treatment planning using Eclipse workstations for cranial and extracranial SABR cases, using conformal field (3D), IMRT and VMAT (RapidArc) techniques.
11:30 - 12:30 Lunch (provided) / Final Q+A session - Ron Lalonde
12:30 - 3:00 Treatment Planning for SABR (hands on, continued) – Ron Lalonde
Application has been submitted for MPCEC for approval for this training. Credits pending approval.
This course is approved for 20 MDCB credits (MDCB914033- MDCB914049)
Information can be accessed at http://www.mdcb.org.
Entitlement Customers: Training will have been an inclusion with your TrueBeam purchase order with Varian. Please refer to your sales order for reference if necessary
Non Entitlement Customers Please email for Pricing Quotes
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Hyatt House Pittsburgh/Bloomfield/Shadyside, 5335 Baum Boulevard, Pittsburgh, United States
USD 0.00