S3008
Invited Speaker
ESTRO 2026
environmental stressors. While generally well tolerated, toxicity can significantly impact patients’ physical and psychological well-being. The need to navigate complex information, cope with daily treatment routines, and manage uncertainty about outcomes highlights the importance of targeted psycho-oncological guidance and support. Guiding and supporting patients and caregivers is therefore a central task, aimed at fostering adaptation, resilience, and quality of life. Patients undergoing radiotherapy frequently report anxiety related to the treatment process, including fear of radiation, concerns about side effects, and distress associated with immobilization devices and treatment settings. Additionally, the cumulative nature of treatment, often delivered over several weeks, may lead to emotional fatigue and decreased coping resources over time. Psycho-oncological interventions aim to provide patients with clear, comprehensible information, facilitate emotional expression, and strengthen adaptive coping strategies. Techniques such as relaxation training, guided imagery, and brief supportive counseling have shown effectiveness in reducing anxiety and improving treatment adherence. Effective communication and continuous psychological support are essential to foster patient empowerment, enabling individuals to actively participate in their care and maintain a sense of control throughout treatment. Caregivers play a vital role in supporting patients throughout radiotherapy, assisting with daily logistics, transportation, and emotional support. However, they may experience significant burden, including stress, anticipatory anxiety, and difficulties balancing caregiving responsibilities with personal and professional roles. Structured support for caregivers is therefore essential and may include psychoeducation, counseling sessions, and the promotion of social support networks. Recognizing caregivers as active participants in the care process enhances both patient and caregiver well-being. The radiotherapy setting offers unique opportunities for continuous psychosocial monitoring due to the frequency of patient contact with healthcare professionals. This allows for early identification of distress and timely intervention. Effective communication within the multidisciplinary team is crucial to ensure coordinated and patient-centered care. A relational perspective should be adopted, facilitating communication between patients and caregivers and supporting shared understanding of the treatment experience and a dyadic distress mangagement. Environmental and procedural aspects of radiotherapy require particular attention. Interventions that include preparatory information and the humanization of the treatment environment can mitigate distress and enhance patients’ sense of control and empowerment.
systems, and regulatory requirements still need to be addressed. Overall, AI has clear potential to accelerate processes in interventional radioterapy (modern brachytherapy), improve quality assurance, and contribute to personalised medicine. Its real clinical impact will depend on robust validation and seamless integration into everyday clinical workflows. References: Fionda B, Boldrini L, D'Aviero A, Lancellotta V, Gambacorta MA, Kovács G, Patarnello S, Valentini V, Tagliaferri L. Artificial intelligence (AI) and interventional radiotherapy (brachytherapy): state of art and future perspectives. J Contemp Brachytherapy. 2020 Oct;12(5):497-500. doi: 10.5114/jcb.2020.100384 Fionda B, Placidi E, de Ridder M, Strigari L, Patarnello S, Tanderup K, Hannoun-Levi JM, Siebert FA, Boldrini L, Antonietta Gambacorta M, De Spirito M, Sala E, Tagliaferri L. Artificial intelligence in interventional radiotherapy (brachytherapy): Enhancing patient- centered care and addressing patients' needs. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol. 2024 Sep 22;49:100865. doi: 10.1016/j.ctro.2024.100865 5335 Introduction Frank-André Siebert Department of Radiotherapy, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany Brachytherapy (BT) is an excellent treatment option for many tumour sites. However, one drawback of BT is the time required for some BT procedures. Optimising the workflow would speed up BT procedures and make BT more attractive. Existing BT workflows can be analysed and optimised with regard to the time required. Furthermore, the development of automated tools for various phases of the BT workflow can increase speed. In this regard, image registration, organ segmentation, applicator reconstruction and treatment planning offer significant potential to further accelerate the BT workflow without compromising the quality of the treatment. 5336 Guiding and supporting patients and caregivers Gabriella Pravettoni Applied Research Division for Cognitive and Psychological Science, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy Radiotherapy represents a central modality in cancer treatment, often characterized by highly technical procedures, repeated sessions, and specific
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