Skip to content

EviQ protocol compliance and dosimetry of SABR spine treatments

This project aims to evaluate how consistently spine stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) treatments are being delivered across major Australian radiation therapy centres and whether they align with the national EviQ treatment recommendations. Previous studies have shown that deviations from established treatment and contouring guidelines can lead to poorer patient outcomes, highlighting the importance of quality assurance and protocol compliance in spine SABR.

The study will investigate two main areas initially:

  1. Protocol Compliance – assessing whether centres are following the EviQ spine SABR recommendations in clinical practice.

  2. Treatment Dosimetry and Prescribing Practices – analysing the radiation dose distributions and prescription approaches used across centres to understand variations in practice.

By comparing practices between institutions, the project will help centres benchmark their workflows, identify areas of non-compliance, and support the development of ongoing audit and quality assurance processes.

In later stages, the project will explore whether differences in protocol compliance or radiation dose patterns are associated with patient outcomes, including survival, pain management, vertebral fractures, oesophageal toxicity, and spinal cord toxicity (myelopathy). The long-term goal is to identify factors that can improve treatment quality and reduce adverse outcomes for patients receiving spine SABR.