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EMMANUEL VAN DER SCHUEREN
1943–1998
THE EMMANUEL VAN DER SCHUEREN FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME
IN QUALITY ASSURANCE IN RADIOTHERAPY
Philip Poortmans, Edvin Aird, Bernard Davis, Jacques Bernier.
The early death of Prof. Emmanuel van der Schueren in his fifties was felt as a dramatic loss for the onco- logy community. Emmanuel van der Schueren not only succeeded in creating a unique European net-work of multidisciplinary cancer research, but was also a pioneer in quality assurance programs and quality cancer care in Europe.
He developed both the strategies and major concepts of the first phases of quality systems implementation in a multi-centric setting and contributed to the setting up of the first real Quality Assurance platforms within both EORTC and ESTRO.
To underline this contribution, the EORTC Board proposed to create an 'Emmanuel van der Schueren Fellowship' at the EORTC data Centerto step in the footprints of this great European oncologist with unrestricted dedication and impact on EORTC development. The purposes of the EvdS fellowship are to promote quality assurance in clinical trials and to offer young specialists the opportunity to be involved in advanced training of multidisciplinary clinical cancer research, a very complex field requiring extensive quality assurance programs.
Moreover this fellowship could constitute a useful reference point both for cooperative groups and international bodies, in their efforts to foster comprehensive research on prospective quality control procedures, and could therefore have a significant impact on clinical practice and cancer care on a pan-European scale.
The fellowship is dedicated to well-defined projects linked to trials conducted by the Radiotherapy Group of the EORTC. The duration of each fellowship is one year, during which time the fellow will stay in Brussels and most of the work will be carried out in the EORTC Data Center. Besides this, the candidate will also be involved in carrying out site visits in participating centers through out Europe.
The EvdS fellowship program in Quality Assurance is supported by the EORTC and by the "Vlaamse Liga tegen Kanker" (Belgian Cancer League).
General Outline:
The study co-ordinators of each trial of the EORTC Radiotherapy Group are responsible for the preparation of a Quality Assurance program based on two approaches:
A. Quality Assurance of Data
Aim: Quality Assurance of patient and treatment data
Procedure: Systematic review of case report forms (CRF) with collaboration of the involved data manager and the quality unit of the EORTC.
Logistics: EORTC Data Center
On-site visit to the major contributors and institutions whenever problems have been identified
B. Quality Assurance of Protocol Compliance
Aim: Verification of compliance to protocol and treatment guidelines
Procedures: Questionnaires
Dummy runs
Individual case reviews
Treatment compliance checks
Local audits
Logistics: EORTC Data Center
On-site visits, to check the conformity of DR versus clinical practice
QA Program Development:
The EvdS fellow should, in close collaboration with the respective study co-ordinator and the Quality Assurance co-ordinators of the EORTC Group, develop during the preparatory phase of the study a trial specific Quality Assurance program. This will consist of:
-Definition
-Documentation
-Monitoring of the Quality Assurance criteria and the possible impact on disease outcome.
EORTC
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