A whole day focused on sharing the different clinical experiences on prostate cancer radiotherapy treatment.
The first Italian event completely dedicated to SpaceOAR (Boston Scientific), distributed in Italy by Tema Sinergie, took place in Bologna on November 27th.
The leading role for the event was taken by the Italian users of this groundbreaking device, who got their first chance to meet up and share their point of view on clinical procedures and proper use of the device to effectively protect organs at risk.
The event, coordinated by Dr. Alessandro Magli (Santa Maria della Misericordia hospital – Udine, Italy), had 35 attendees from all over Italy (counting both experienced and beginner users of the device) representing 25 different medical centres.
A practical perspective on the SpaceOAR system was given during the first branch of the meeting, as highlighted by the titles of the lectures:
• SBRT Predictive Models. G. Sanguineti – Rome
• The point of view of a Medical Physicist. V. Landoni – Rome | E. Moretti – Udine
• Focus on RM sequences and contouring effectiveness in a nutshell. R. Girometti – Udine
• SpaceOar and Hypofractionation: IGRT from conventional to RM. F. Alongi – Negrar (VR)
The resumption of works was all about Dr. L. Tagliaferri and Dr. N. Di Napoli’s speech on databases and predictive models, which opened to the chance of an Italian-based study on the use of the device. The day was called off with a free discussion involving all of the attendees, for their chance to express opinions, doubts, and direct experiences.
The meeting was also a well-fitting stage for the unveiling of the SpaceOAR “patient oriented site” (www.idrogelprostata.it): a mini-portal gathering useful information and details for those who are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and are considering undergoing radiotherapy treatments. The patients can take the site as a reference for FAQs and information on Italian centres in which the SpaceOAR device is currently available.
“We’ve been thinking for some time about a contribution to make room for sharing the users’ experience with SpaceOAR. Now the time is right, since the system is, finally, catching on in Italy, too” says Andrea Peroni, Business Unit Manager of both Radiotherapy and Uro-Oncology divisions of Tema Sinergie.
“We reached a remarkable level of involvement and acknowledgement which we’re proud of. It’s yet another validation for the attention that this subject is drawing, and also a positive signal for a need to share different clinical experiences”.
Our heartfelt thanks go to all of the attendees, hoping we’ll soon be able to plan for a second edition.