Quality control in radiotherapy

Results achieved in radiotherapy have progressively improved in the course of years for the steady technological advances which allowed to exploit at best the available equipment and to create new devices, as well as for the better radiobiological knowledge. However, the need is felt for recommendations defining a set of principles to ensure the minimum acceptable standards. In Italy, a quality assurance system in radiotherapy should be applicable to the over 90 centers now operating with about 170 high energy units, 600 radiotherapists, 200 physicists and 600 technicians who treat over 100,000 patients per year. General requirements of this system and its organization are analyzed based on the various international scientific reports, formalized in a report of the national scientific societies of various European countries gathered in Bruxelles in October 1994. This report has been absorbed and edited in Italian by the Italian Association of Radiation Oncology (AIRO).