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Addressing Disparities in the Delivery of Palliative Radiation Therapy
Palliative radiation therapy is underutilized across a variety of clinical settings, with reported disparities in palliative radiation therapy administration based on age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and geography. The first speaker describes what is known about these disparities, and frames them in the context of social determinants of health and other known disparities in palliative cancer care in general. The second speaker describes practice models of palliative radiation therapy delivery, including use of a dedicated palliative radiation oncology service, which can help expedite patient care and address these disparities in an urban/tertiary academic center environment. The third speaker discusses means of improving access to palliative radiation therapy among rural patient populations. The speakers also describe the impact of cultural competency and language barriers in communicating sensitive topics in order to “reach” diverse groups as well. Overall, the session explores approaches to address these disparities in different practice settings in order to ensure access to patient-centered palliative radiation therapy among diverse populations.
Topics:
- Understanding Disparities in Palliative Cancer Care and Radiation Therapy Utilization
Carlos Rodriguez-Russo, MD - Use of a Dedicated Palliative Radiation Oncology Service to Address Disparities in Access to and Expedite Receipt of Care
Anna W. LaVigne, MD - Addressing Access to Palliative Radiotherapy: A Focus on Geographic Resource Disparities
Sarah R. Alcorn, MD, PhD, MPH - Q and A
Malcolm D. Mattes, MD - Moderator
Full Panel
This activity is available from July 22, 2025, through 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on July 21, 2027.
The content was originally presented and recorded at the 2024 ASTRO Annual Meeting.
Target Audience
The activity is designed to meet the interests of radiation oncologists.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:
- Understand sources of disparities in palliative cancer care and radiotherapy delivery in this setting.
- Develop systematic approaches to improving access to patient-centered palliative radiation therapy among diverse patients and practice settings.
- Malcolm D. Mattes, MD, is employed by Rutgers Cancer Institute. Dr. Mattes serves in uncompensated roles with ASTRO as the Vice Chair of the Communications Committee and is the ACOS CoC Cancer Liaison physician with the University Hospital Cancer Center.
- Carlos Rodriguez-Russo, MD, is employed by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
- Anna W. LaVigne, MD, is employed by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
- Sara R. Alcorn, MD, PhD, MPH, is employed by University of Minnesota. Dr. Alcorn receives grant/research funding from the Prostate Cancer Foundation-Pfizer. Dr. Alcorn serves in uncompensated roles with ASTRO as the bone metastases guidelines committee vice-chair; with the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics as the breast section associate editor; with the Society for Palliative Radiotherapy as Vice President; and the American Radium Society as a committee member for development of ARS AUC guidelines for palliative radiation.
The person(s) above served as the developer(s) of this activity. Additionally, the ASTRO Education Committee had control over the content of this activity. All relevant financial relationships have been mitigated.
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Available Credit
- 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education for physicians. ASTRO designates this Enduring material for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
- 1.00 Certificate of AttendanceThis activity was designated for 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.
Price
Course Fees:
ASTRO members must log in to the ASTRO website to view and receive the member rate.
- Nonmember: $149
- Member: $99
- Member-in-Training: $49
- Student/Graduate Student/PGY-1 Member: $49
- Postdoctoral Fellow Member: $49
If you are an ASTRO member from a low or lower-middle income country, as identified by the World Bank, you can receive a 50% discount off your corresponding registration for this activity. Please email [email protected] to inquire about the discount.
Policies:
No refunds, extensions, or substitutions will be made for those participants who, for any reason, have not completed the activity by the expiration date.
Participants using ASTRO Academy activities to satisfy the requirement of a Continuing Certification (MOC) program should verify the credit number and type and availability dates of any activity before making a purchase. No refunds, extensions, or substitutions will be made for participants who have purchased activities that do not align with their MOC requirement.
The activity and its materials will only be available on the ASTRO website until July 21, 2027, regardless of purchase date. At the expiration of the activity, participants will no longer have access to the activity or its materials. ASTRO reserves the right to remove an activity before its expiration date.
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One of the two latest versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari.