Interview of the Chairpersons: Jean Bourhis and Dietmar Georg

First of all, when and where is ESTRO29 to be held?
The congress will be held at the CCIB Conference Centre in the city of Barcelona between 12th and 16th September 2010

What is the main theme of the Congress?
This is the bi-annual meeting of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiation and Oncology, where the most recent advances in the field will be presented. With a focus on clinical trials, new technology and their clinical implementation as well as the emerging new frontiers of radiation biology, the conference is designed to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and co-operation. Physics, biology, molecular medicine and clinical radiation oncology evolve and it is important to merge the developments in the individual disciplines to ensure progress in the multidisciplinary field of radiation oncology.

What do you think will be the most interesting session at ESTRO29?
It is difficult to choose one but certainly a highlight of the meeting will be the programme of presentations on the outcomes from randomised clinical trials, providing either new data or recent updates on top level evidence based medicine.

Can you explain how the new e-Contouring course will run?
Several eContouring sessions will be offered at the meeting, which will allow participants to share their knowledge and experience in an interactive manner and discuss practical aspects of tumour and normal tissue delineation with experts.  The focus will be on optimising radiation therapy targeting. There are only 60 places available so you might want to register as soon as possible!

And there’s also to be a presidential symposium – what will that involve?
The Presidential address will present the future of the Society in the general context of oncology and explore new horizons for the specialty, focusing on the development of new and innovative technology and predicting how these advances will change clinical oncology.

There is time set aside for a debate – has the topic been decided yet?
Several debates between experts will take place and these will all focus on hot topics related to new developments in high precision radiotherapy, functional imaging or other timely and highly relevant clinical topics.

What other sessions do you think will capture the attention of delegates?
ESTRO 29 will have an outstanding and challenging scientific programme with something for everyone.  In addition to the state of the art lectures, symposia, proffered papers and poster session, all of which have been organised in parallel tracks, there will be an extensive educational programme.

The national societies will be contributing to ESTRO29. Can you give us more details about what to look out for?
Following the lead set at ESTRO 27, the Spanish and the Portuguese National Societies along with ALATRO and the Polish National Society will once again hold a National Association Day in their respective languages on Sunday, September 12.

Will there be any pre-meeting courses at ESTRO29?
We will have four Pre-Congress courses this year. The detailed programmes are now available on the ESTRO website.

Will the successful Young Scientist’s track at ESTRO 27 be repeated at ESTRO29?
The dedicated Young Scientist’s track, which started at ESTRO 27, was repeated at the Physics and RTT meeting in Maastricht in 2009.  Again, it proved very popular and very successful and will form an integral part of ESTRO 29. The organisers of the ESTRO29 Young Scientists Track have put together an excellent programme with highly relevant topics for the Young Scientists Community within ESTRO. Symposia, teaching lectures, moving poster sessions will all play a part.

Can we expect an extensive exhibition to see all the new developments first-hand?
The industry as our partner in the clinical and research setting in radiation oncology will demonstrate the latest and most interesting developments at ESTRO 29. ESTRO meetings have become a key information and communication platform for the industry and the exhibition has become a very important and integral part of ESTRO events and is the largest one in Europe for radiation oncology.

After all the hard work at the congress, what social events will there be at ESTRO29?
We will have quite a few occasions to meet our fellow colleagues in a more relaxed atmosphere. First off will be the Welcome Reception on Sunday evening in the exhibition area. On Monday afternoon there will be the Poster Reception where awards will be given for the two best exhibits. Tuesday will be the ESTRO School Reception and finally on Wednesday there will be the big ESTRO Party - which I can assure you will be something you will not want to miss.