Dual benefits of new radiotherapy units: Improved access and reduced emissions

IF 5.3 1区医学 Q1 ONCOLOGY

Radiotherapy and Oncology Pub Date : 2025-09-13 DOI:10.1016/j.radonc.2025.111137

David Ali , Max Piffoux

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction

Radiotherapy accessibility varies significantly within countries. Radiotherapy has a significant carbon footprint, primarily driven by patient transportation emissions in Europe.

Objective

This study aimed to determine if strategically located new Radiotherapy Units (RUs) and Linear Accelerator (LINAC) reallocation could simultaneously improve accessibility and reduce the carbon footprint of External Beam Radiotherapy (EBRT) in France.

Methodology

A national-scale Location-Allocation (LA) model, incorporating accessibility efficiency and equity, resource density, and greenhouse gas emissions, was used. Sensitivity analysis was used to assess the robustness of the results.

Results

We identified 27 potential locations for new RUs across 13 geographically independent clusters. Increase in emissions for the creation and maintenance is compensated with a mean carbon Return on Investment (ROI) of 4.6 years. Implementing the optimal RU within each cluster and reallocating LINACs would save an estimated 26,050 tons of CO2eq over a 10-year period, corresponding to ≈326 years in good health (DALYs) saved in the future. Public transport accessibility to an RU within 45 min would be gained for 405,487 individuals (0.6 %), and driving duration would improve for 3,301,705 (4.8 %). An additional 912 patients annually who currently do not receive radiotherapy due to excessive travel times (decay effect) would be treated.

Conclusion

Strategically located new Radiotherapy Units and LINAC reallocation can improve both accessibility and reduce the carbon footprint of EBRT. However, this latter benefit is limited and other more effective mitigation strategies should be considered concurrently.

查看原文本刊更多论文

新的放射治疗单位的双重好处：改善了获取和减少了排放。

各国的放射治疗可及性差异很大。放射治疗具有显著的碳足迹，主要是由欧洲患者运输排放造成的。目的：本研究旨在确定战略定位的新放疗单元（RUs）和线性加速器（LINAC）的重新分配是否可以同时改善法国外束放疗（EBRT）的可及性并减少碳足迹。方法：采用综合可达性、效率和公平性、资源密度和温室气体排放的全国尺度区位-分配（LA）模型。采用敏感性分析评价结果的稳健性。结果：我们在13个地理独立的集群中确定了27个新RUs的潜在位置。建造和维护过程中排放的增加得到了4.6 年的平均碳投资回报率（ROI）的补偿。在每个集群中实施最佳RU并重新分配linac，在10年期间估计可节省26,050吨二氧化碳当量，相当于未来节省约326 年的健康年（DALYs）。405,487人（0.6 %）将在45 min内获得公共交通可达性，3,301,705人（4.8 %）的驾驶时间将得到改善。此外，每年还有912名目前因旅行时间过长而未接受放射治疗的患者（龋齿效应）将得到治疗。结论：策略性地设置新的放疗单元和重新配置LINAC可以改善EBRT的可及性并减少碳足迹。然而，后一种好处是有限的，应同时考虑其他更有效的缓解战略。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Radiotherapy and Oncology 医学-核医学

CiteScore

10.30

自引率

10.50%

发文量

2445

审稿时长

45 days

期刊介绍： Radiotherapy and Oncology publishes papers describing original research as well as review articles. It covers areas of interest relating to radiation oncology. This includes: clinical radiotherapy, combined modality treatment, translational studies, epidemiological outcomes, imaging, dosimetry, and radiation therapy planning, experimental work in radiobiology, chemobiology, hyperthermia and tumour biology, as well as data science in radiation oncology and physics aspects relevant to oncology.Papers on more general aspects of interest to the radiation oncologist including chemotherapy, surgery and immunology are also published.