February 13-17, 2012 ~ Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Course Registration:

The Radiobiology course is a 5 day course, beginning at 9am and ending at 5pm.

This course is now finished.
Download the Flyer
(PDF, 650KB. Hint: use the scroll wheel on your mouse after loading if it doesn’t display properly)

View the lecture schedule and textbook chapters for each lecture

Text Book (Required):

Basic Clinical Radiobiology, by Michael Joiner and Albert van der Kogel

Course description:

This program provides a comprehensive overview of radiation biology with a particular emphasis on aspects of direct relevance to the practice of radiation oncology. It addresses the molecular and cellular responses to radiation-induced damage that influence cell death in both tumors and normal tissues. Quantitation of radiation effects and the underlying biological basis for fractionation of radiotherapy and dose-response relationships in the clinic are covered in depth. The biological basis for current approaches to improve radiotherapy will be described including novel fractionation schemes, retreatment issues, targeting hypoxia, biological modifiers and combined radiotherapy/chemotherapy.

Target Group:

The course is designed primarily to address the needs of radiation oncology residents and physics residents who are in radiation oncology departments. In addition, the course will be valuable to new researchers in radiation biology and to radiation oncology fellows or practicing oncologists who recognize a lack of basic science or want to update their knowledge.

Educational program

• Importance of radiobiology in the clinic
• Hallmarks of cancer
• Radiation induced damage and the DNA damage response
• Molecular basis of cell death
• Cell survival – in vitro and in vivo
• Quantifying cell kill and cell survival
• LET and RBE
• Particles in radiotherapy
• Dose response relationships in radiotherapy – TCP, NTCP, therapeutic ratio
• The linear-quadratic approach to fractionation
• The LQ-model in practice – examples of calculations
• Modified fractionation schedules (and limits)
• Tumor growth, stem cells, and response to irradiation
• Dose rate effect
• Radiobiology of brachytherapy
• The volume effect in radiotherapy
• Stereotactic and high dose radiotherapy
• The oxygen effect
• Hypoxia and tumor microenvironment
• Clinical efforts to modify tumor hypoxia
• Pathogenesis of normal tissue side effects
• Retreatment tolerance of normal tissues
• Combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy
• Biological response modifiers in tumors – preclinical
• Biological response modifiers in tumors – clinical implementation
• Predictive biomarkers and patient individualization
• Radiation-induced malignancies

 Faculty:

An expert group of faculty in radiation biology and radiation oncology will deliver lectures and answer questions over the course of 5 days. View a brief biography for each faculty member, or click a name below to jump to that person’s bio:

• Soren Bentzen / University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Anthony Brade / Princess Margaret Hospital
• Rob Bristow / Princess Margaret Hospital
• Laura Dawson / Princess Margaret Hospital
• Dick Hill / Princess Margaret Hospital
• Dave Hodgson / Princess Margaret Hospital
• Mike Joiner / Wayne State University
• Marianne Koritzinsky / Princess Margaret Hospital
• Stanley Liu / Odette Cancer Centre
• Mike Milosevic / Princess Margaret Hospital
• Gerard Morton / Odette Cancer Centre
• Bert van der Kogel / Radboud University Nijmegen + University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Shun Wong / Odette Cancer Centre
• Brad Wouters / Princess Margaret Hospital

Course date & location:

February 13 -17, 2012
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Registration & fees

Online registration is now open. Please click the button at the top of this page to register. A course registration fee of $250.00 CAD applies.  Payment of fees (by credit card) is required to complete the online registration process.  Please register early as space is limited.

Required reading:

Basic Clinical Radiobiology, 4th Edition, Van Der Kogel A and Joiner M. Buy Basic Clinical Radiobiology on amazon.ca.

Sponsors:

Interested in sponsoring this course? Please contact Annamarie Butler.

Other questions or concerns? Contact Effie Slapnicar.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Recommended accommodations:

• Sutton Place Hotel
• Metropolitan Hotel
• Delta Chelsea