Strengthening Childhood Cancer Care: IAEA and St Jude Begin Development of Radiotherapy Curricula

The IAEA-led Lancet Oncology Commission on Radiotherapy and Theranostics has highlighted the need for more than 84 000 radiation oncologists, 47 000 medical physicists and 141 000 radiation therapists by 2050 to keep pace with the global cancer burden. “When we focus on paediatric cancers in particular, the situation is even starker,” said Tomoaki Tamaki, IAEA Head of Applied Radiation Biology and Radiotherapy, adding that nearly half of the 13.7 million new cases between 2020 and 2050 will go undiagnosed according to the Lancet Oncology Commission on Sustainable Care for Children with Cancer. “In terms of treatment, over 11 million of these 13.7 million children will die without any sort of intervention,” he said. “The vast majority of these deaths will occur in low- and middle-income countries.”

In addressing this pressing health challenge, the IAEA and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital — a global leader in the research and treatment of childhood cancer, sickle cell disease and other life-threatening paediatric diseases — are creating global public goods which will enable countries to improve their radiation medicine capabilities. Radiation oncologists, medical physicists and radiation therapists from around the world can leverage these technical resources to establish and expand radiotherapy services for children with cancer.

As the first global good, the IAEA and St. Jude aim to create standardized educational curricula. Nearly 20 radiotherapy experts from across the globe, including from the Rays of Hope Anchor Centre in Argentina, joined specialists from both organizations for a week-long consultancy meeting to outline an effective framework for these curricula.

By sharing their experience in treating paediatric cancer patients within their national and regional contexts, participants were able to clarify the core competencies these curricula should emphasize. They also articulated the minimum requirements for paediatric radiotherapy training, identified proficiency benchmarks for the use of advanced technologies and explored strategies to tailor curricula to learning-related needs at the local level. 

Insights from their consultancy meeting will directly inform the new curricula. Following further external review, these curricula will be released as an IAEA publication and will supplement existing guidance. 

“For the millions of children with cancer, these new curricula are part of the solution. In strengthening the global knowledge base, they will help to realise a well-trained radiation oncology workforce,” said May Abdel-Wahab, Director of the IAEA Division of Human Health. “Together with St. Jude, the IAEA will build on the forthcoming paediatric radiotherapy curricula by creating standardized education programmes as the next global public good.”