New CRP: Development of Methodology for Dosimetry Audits in Brachytherapy (E24023)

The IAEA is launching a new five-year Coordinated Research Project (CRP) commencing in 2021 that seeks to verify the dosimetry of the brachytherapy process for the safe and effective treatment of cancer patients in Member States. The CRP on Development of a Methodology for Dosimetry Audits in Brachytherapy” (E24023), is expected to benefit Member States by establishing an audit program for independent verification of the dose delivered by high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy.

The CRP will include developing and testing calibration and auditing methodologies for gynaecological HDR brachytherapy applications using ⁶⁰Co or ¹⁹²Ir sources. Furthermore, the results of this CRP will encourage the development of national dosimetry audit networks in Member States. Although some remote and on-site brachytherapy auditing methodologies have been developed in the past by national and regional dosimetry audit networks, most audits concentrate on the verification of the source strength and characterization of the source in the treatment planning system.

The three major process steps to be investigated are:

1. Verification of the reference air KERMA rate of the high dose rate ⁶⁰Co and/or ¹⁹²Ir brachytherapy micro-source(s);
2. Validation of treatment planning dose calculation for typical gynaecological treatment applications;
3. Develop and pilot an end-to-end dosimetry audit methodology in the clinical environment.

Key factors in the validation of the typical treatment process are the reproducibility and accuracy of the source positioning and the calibration of the HDR source. Participants will therefore assess the standards of quality and safety for effective brachytherapy treatment of cancer patients and evaluate the comparability between Member States.

This new CRP builds upon the success of four previous CRPs focusing on the development, testing and dissemination of dosimetry audit methodologies for external beam radiotherapy that were coordinated by the IAEA Dosimetry Laboratory (DOL). This CRP seeks to include a brachytherapy audit methodology to strengthen national dosimetry audit network capabilities.

The application process will be carried out through a submission of the Proposal for Research Contract or Agreement to the IAEA’s Research Contracts Administration Section using the appropriate template on the CRA web portal. Applications should include details of the scientific scope of the project in addressing the overall problems and specific objectives for the country including the background and infrastructure information pertaining to gynaecological HDR brachytherapy services.