Introduction

Joost Verhoeff is Professor and Head of Radiation Oncology at Amsterdam UMC since 2023 and Chair of the EORTC Radiation Oncology Scientific Council (ROSC) since September 2025. He leads a large academic radiotherapy programme (6 TrueBeams, 6 Ethos, 2 MRIdians, brachytherapy, hyperthermia). The Amsterdam UMC team has a strong focus on clinical innovation, adaptive and stereotactic techniques, and the responsible integration of new technologies into practice. Joost’s work emphasises multidisciplinary collaboration, methodological rigor, and the development of radiotherapy as a central component of modern cancer care at both institutional and international levels.

To begin, could you briefly explain what ROSC is and what its role is within the EORTC radiation oncology community?

Great question. When I started to visit EORTC as a resident, the organisation puzzled me quite a bit. ROSC, the Radiation Oncology Scientific Council, is the strategic hub for radiotherapy within EORTC. It serves as the reference point linking disease-oriented groups (DOGs), the EORTC Board, and the RTQA community, with the aim of promoting radiotherapy research both within EORTC and internationally. Its role is to identify key research priorities, provide scientific guidance, and ensure that radiotherapy is optimally integrated into multidisciplinary trials. In the coming years, this role will also focus on enabling participation through practical measures such as master agreements with leading institutes in Europe to facilitate faster study inclusion and strengthening infrastructure for trial management.

ROSC is increasingly engaged in international collaborations. Could you share more about current and upcoming partnerships (such as the work with TROG) and what they mean for the EORTC community?

International collaboration is essential to address complex radiotherapy questions at scale. A key priority is to further expand the partnership with the Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG), building on complementary strengths in trial methodology, quality assurance, and technological innovation. Such collaborations allow studies to recruit more efficiently, produce globally relevant evidence, and harmonise standards across continents. In addition, master agreements with high-volume centers within the TROG community are being developed to reduce administrative barriers and accelerate participation in global trials. For the EORTC community, this means stronger science, faster accrual, and greater global impact.

Secondary analyses and RTQA work often stay less visible, yet they are essential to radiotherapy research. Why are these activities so important for the EORTC community, and how do they help strengthen the scientific quality of our studies?

Radiotherapy outcomes depend heavily on how treatment is delivered, making quality assurance indispensable. RTQA ensures protocol compliance, consistency across centers, and interpretability of results, while secondary analyses provide deeper insights into treatment effects, endpoints, and patient subgroups. These activities are explicitly central to ROSC’s mandate. A particularly important development is the structural funding of an RTQA fellowship by the Belgian foundation Kom op tegen kanker, which strengthens expertise, continuity, and innovation in this field. This investment underscores that high-quality radiotherapy research requires sustained methodological support, not just primary trial execution.

E²‑RADIATE is one of EORTC’s major international radiotherapy platforms. How do you see this initiative contributing to ROSC’s mission and to the visibility of radiotherapy research across groups?

E²-RADIATE exemplifies ROSC’s goal of creating shared platforms that transcend individual tumor groups. It’s one of the most successful recent projects of EORTC. By enabling large-scale prospective data collection across diseases and techniques, it supports research questions that cannot be addressed fast enough within single trials. The planned expansion of the RE-CARE database and broader inclusion efforts will further enhance its value as a real-world evidence resource. In parallel, modern trial-management tools such as Aitrium software (www.aitriumos.com) are being introduced to streamline workflows and improve coordination. Together, these initiatives increase efficiency, visibility, and scientific output across the EORTC network.

This first ROSC newsletter reaches radiation oncology experts from across all EORTC groups. From your perspective as Chair, why is it valuable for the network to have a common space to share scientific developments and priorities?

A shared communication platform is essential in a large, multidisciplinary organisation where expertise is widely distributed. I would love to create a shared sense of “coming home” within ROSC for radiation oncologists participating in the DOGs. The newsletter helps align priorities, disseminate guidance, and highlight opportunities for collaboration across the disease-oriented groups. It also supports the development of the next generation of leaders, for example through the Young ROSC initiative, which aims to engage early-career radiation oncology researchers and integrate their perspectives into strategic planning. By fostering dialogue across experience levels and disciplines, the network becomes more cohesive and forward-looking.

As we launch this first ROSC newsletter, what message would you like to share with radiation oncology experts across the EORTC community?

My message would be this: Radiotherapy is evolving rapidly, and its future depends on coordinated, high-quality research across institutions and countries. ROSC’s goal is to create the conditions that make such research feasible, through strong partnerships, robust quality assurance, modern infrastructure, and support for both established and emerging investigators. At the same time, the oncology landscape is increasingly shaped by powerful pharmaceutical development, which naturally gravitates toward patent-protected therapies and can unintentionally sideline modalities like radiotherapy that lack comparable commercial incentives. This makes it even more important for the academic community to work together to generate strong evidence and maintain balance in multidisciplinary cancer care. I would encourage colleagues across all groups to engage actively, contribute ideas, and take advantage of new opportunities for collaboration and participation. Together, we can ensure that radiotherapy research remains scientifically rigorous, internationally relevant, and ultimately impactful for patients.