Bernier J, Horiot J C, Poortmans P
Ospedale San Giovanni, Rue de l'Hopital, CH-6500, Bellinzona, Switzerland.
Eur J Cancer. 2002 Mar;38 Suppl 4:S155-8. doi: 10.1016/s0959-8049(01)00438-5.
The stepwise process of the EORTC Quality Assurance Programme in Radiotherapy is described in function of two main criteria: the targets of the quality control procedures implemented, in Radiation Physics and clinical research, by the EORTC Radiotherapy Group and the development of both trial- and patient-oriented quality systems. This exhaustive program, which started in 1982, is characterised by three main periods. The first one was fully dedicated to pioneer steps in Radiation Physics measurements, on-site audits and inventories of human resources, staff workload and department infrastructure in institutions participating to EORTC trials. During the second period, which started in the late 1980s, a series of quality systems were implemented to test the compliance of the investigators to follow protocol guidelines, through the use of standard and uniform control procedures like the dummy runs, in order to tackle systematic errors in the participating institutions. Finally, the third period, which took place in the 1990s, was essentially patient-oriented, thanks to large scale individual case reviews, to check the validity of data recording and reporting processes and trace random errors throughout the radiotherapy treatments. Most of the results collected during these two decades allowed the implementation of well codified quality control procedures which, nowadays, can be used outside the field of clinical research, by national societies or bodies willing to improve treatment standards on a large scale.
欧洲癌症研究与治疗组织（EORTC）放射治疗质量保证计划的逐步过程，根据两个主要标准进行描述：EORTC放射治疗小组在放射物理学和临床研究中实施的质量控制程序的目标，以及以试验和患者为导向的质量体系的发展。这个始于1982年的详尽计划具有三个主要阶段。第一个阶段完全致力于放射物理学测量、现场审核以及参与EORTC试验的机构中的人力资源、工作人员工作量和部门基础设施清查等开创性工作。在始于20世纪80年代末的第二个阶段，通过使用诸如模拟运行等标准统一的控制程序，实施了一系列质量体系，以测试研究人员遵守方案指南的情况，从而解决参与机构中的系统误差。最后，在20世纪90年代的第三个阶段，由于大规模的个体病例审查，基本上以患者为导向，以检查数据记录和报告过程的有效性，并追踪整个放射治疗过程中的随机误差。在这二十年中收集的大多数结果使得能够实施编纂完善的质量控制程序，如今，国家学会或机构若希望大规模提高治疗标准，可在临床研究领域之外使用这些程序。
