NSS 2021.07.09 - Monica Serban "Brachytherapy in the treatment of cervical cancer"

MPU Noon Seminar Series

Speaker: Monica Serban, PhD
Medical Physicist, McGill University Health Centre
Lecturer, Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec

Title:
"Brachytherapy in the treatment of cervical cancer: From historical systems to MR image guided techniques"

Abstract:
Brachytherapy (BT) for the treatment of cervical cancer can be traced back to the discovery of 226Ra in 1898 by Marie and Pierre Curie. The first systematic intracavitary techniques that used 226Ra, were predominantly initiated in four main centers: Paris, Stockholm, Manchester and MD Anderson. The different BT schools, according to their own experience, had distinctive ways of prescribing the dose and defining the volume to be treated depending on stage, tumour size or treatment modality. In the past 15 years, magnetic resonance image guided adaptive BT (MR-IGABT)has triggered a renaissance in the BT practice, making it an extremely efficient technique for selective boosting of the primary tumor. However, to fully benefit from its potential, MR-IGABT required additional developments in technique (e.g., use of interstitial needles) and applicator designs. Individualization and adaptation of the BT implant in advanced cases or challenging anatomy were promoted.

In this talk I will provide a general overview of cervical cancer treatment from historical to contemporary BT systems.This will include a description of the largest intErnational study on MRI-guided BRAchytherapy in locally Advanced CErvical cancer (EMBRACE). Improvements achieved by MR-IGABT along with intracavitary/interstitial techniques and personalized dose optimization approaches will be discussed. Additionally, vaginal morbidity prediction by advanced dose reporting metrics will be addressed.

Biographical Summary:
Dr. Monica Serban is a medical physicist at McGill University Health Center and a lecturer at the Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology, McGill University. She also holds a research fellowship at Aarhus University in Denmark. She obtained her PhD at Aarhus University in 2020, on the topic of “Image guided brachytherapy in cervix cancer: Optimising technique, applicators, and treatment planning”. Dr. Serban has been instrumental in the development and clinical implementation of CT-based electron treatments and MR-based guided brachytherapy. Current research interests include brachytherapy for cervical cancer with focus on technique and morbidity outcomes. Dr. Serban is deeply involved with the design of the 3rd edition of the EMBRACE study expected to start in January 2022 as well as in the GEC-ESTRO/IBS/ABS recommendations for brachytherapy treatment planning. She is active in teaching in Medical Physics graduate and Radiation Oncology residency programs and a faculty in the ESTRO course on image guided radiotherapy and chemotherapy in gynaecological cancer.