EORTC Radiation Oncology Group: 50 years of continuous accomplishments

After the foundation of the EORTC in 1962, the Radio-Chemotherapy Group within this organization split in 1973 into two groups. One of these groups, concentrating on Hodgkin's and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, later became the Lymphoma Group while the other became the Radiotherapy Group. During the 1990's the latter changed its name to the Radiation Oncology Group (ROG), underscoring its position within the field of multidisciplinary oncology research. By 2011 the ROG had initiated or participated in 83 clinical studies, of which more than 73% were randomized phase III trials. It has concentrated on almost every disease site from brain to gynecological tumors with emphasis on brain, head and neck, breast, prostate, and lower gastro-intestinal tumours. The ROG has published several hundreds peer-reviewed articles, including publications in prestigious journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine or Lancet Oncology. Since its foundation, the ROG has understood the importance of conducting a proper Radiotherapy Quality Assurance (RT-QA) program for every clinical trial aiming at guaranteeing the quality of radiotherapy, i.e. minimizing any uncertainties in the conduction of trials. As radiotherapy evolved from two-dimensional to Intensity Modulated Radio Therapy, this program has progressively matured with time to be part of a worldwide RT-QA consortium in 2012.