Search

Purpose: The use of molecular radiotherapy (MRT) has been rapidly evolving over the last years. The aim of this study was to assess the current implementation of dosimetry for MRTs in Europe., Methods: A web-based questionnaire was open for treating centres between April and June 2022, and focused on 2020-2022. Questions addressed the application of 16 different MRTs, the availability and involvement of medical physicists, software used, quality assurance, as well as the target regions for dosimetry, whether treatment planning and/or verification were performed, and the dosimetric methods used., Results: A total of 173 responses suitable for analysis was received from centres performing MRT, geographically distributed over 27 European countries. Of these, 146 centres (84 %) indicated to perform some form of dosimetry, and 97 % of these centres had a medical physicist available and almost always involved in dosimetry. The most common MRTs were 131 I-based treatments for thyroid diseases and thyroid cancer, and [ 223 Ra]RaCl 2 for bone metastases. The implementation of dosimetry varied widely between therapies, from almost all centres performing dosimetry-based planning for microsphere treatments to none for some of the less common treatments (like 32 P sodium-phosphate for myeloproliferative disease and [ 89 Sr]SrCl 2 for bone metastases)., Conclusions: Over the last years, implementation of dosimetry, both for pre-therapeutic treatment planning and post-therapy absorbed dose verification, increased for several treatments, especially for microsphere treatments. For other treatments that have moved from research to clinical routine, the use of dosimetry decreased in recent years. However, there are still large differences both across and within countries., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Jens Kurth receives an institutional grant by Novartis, and research grants by Novartis and Oncobeta. Manuel Bardiès is supervising a PhD student (J Fragoso Negrin) sponsored by DOSIsoft. All other authors state no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica e Sanitaria. All rights reserved.)