VATE

The adoption of newest technologies in current radiotherapy practice can often be influenced by enthusiastic perspectives that derive from pre-clinical and dosimetric studies. However, the clinical validation of these technologies encounters challenges when designing randomized trials to compare treatment approaches at various technology levels. This is primarily due to factors such as patient choices and expectations. Moreover, it usually requires much time for patients recruitment before getting reliable results. Retrospective case series, while useful, may lack unbiased data collection and are considered less robust than controlled randomized trials. This leads to a scarcity of clinical evidence, hindering the acceptance of new technologies in business management procedures. 

The proposed solution is the Validation of Advanced Technologies in Oncology (VATE) project. Leveraging the power of computer-based analyses, VATE aims to access large datasets and construct correlations through automated procedures. The project seeks to analyze the relationship between new technologies and outcomes in terms of tumor control and normal tissue sparing. The anticipated outcomes include the definition of clinical evidence related to the adoption of new technologies over the last decade. This involves studying patient-related variables, clinical presentation of pathology, and treatment details. The findings will be presented through nomograms for outcome predictions and constants for use in dose-response models. Additionally, VATE aims to develop a software tool that provides clinicians with reliable models predicting outcomes for tumor control and the probability of complications. These models can be applied during planning procedures to evaluate changes in outcomes related to planning dose distribution, offering a practical response in terms of assessing alternative treatment plans.