Looking back

Focus on Palliation 2026

The inaugural FOP Virtual Symposium established a global, interactive forum for research, education, and collaboration in palliative radiation oncology.

20%

Approximately one in five registrants joined from outside the United States.

Abstracts selected for oral presentation.

50%+

More than half of oral presentations came from outside the United States.

2026 oral research presentations

The inaugural competition highlighted adaptive workflows, re-irradiation, spatially fractionated RT, patient priorities, neurocognition, pediatric palliation, electronic patient-reported outcomes, team-based care, and quality metrics.

Ashaya T. Jaglal · Amsterdam UMC

Implementing a fully computed tomography-free online adaptive palliative radiotherapy: a one-visit workflow

A single-visit adaptive palliation workflow designed to reduce treatment burden.

M. Judy Lubas · Fox Chase Cancer Center

Re-irradiation of Locally Recurrent Retroperitoneal Sarcomas Using CT Adaptive Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy

Feasibility and outcomes of CT-adaptive SBRT in complex re-irradiation.

Natalie Wong · Tuen Mun Hospital, Hong Kong

Early Clinical Results of Spatially Fractionated Radiation Therapy (SFRT) with GRID in the Treatment of Bulky, Advanced Tumors

Hannah Huang · Columbia Hospital, New York

What Matters Most: Older Adults Prioritizing Life Prolongation Before Palliative Radiation Therapy Have Better Post-Treatment Outcomes

Eugene Vaios · Duke University Cancer Center

Neurocognitive Outcomes in Patients With Brain Metastases: A Systematic Review

Faisal Habbab · University of Alberta

Multivariate analysis of outcomes of palliative radiotherapy and palliative reirradiation in children

Ethan Steele · University of North Carolina

Routine electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePRO) assessment is both acceptable and appropriate as reported by patients with metastatic cancer in radiation oncology

Pamela Paterson · Cancer Care Alberta

Specialized Team Management Improves Person-Centered Care for Patients Undergoing Palliative Radiotherapy

Osamu Tanaka · Asahi University Hospital, Japan

Selected oral abstract; unable to present because of a last-minute conflict.

Nandan Maruti Shanbhag · Tawam Hospital, Abu Dhabi

Evaluating KPIs in Palliative Care: Insights from a Tertiary Center

Competition results

Winners were determined through real-time audience voting.

First Place

Eugene Vaios

Duke University Cancer Center
Neurocognitive outcomes in brain metastases

Second Place

Ethan Steele

University of North Carolina
ePRO assessment in metastatic cancer

Third Place · Tie

Natalie Wong & Nandan Maruti Shanbhag

SFRT with GRID · KPIs in palliative care

2026 Keynote

FaceAge: AI Prognostication at a Glance

Dr. Raymond Mak · Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School

The address explored AI-based survival prediction, potential integration into palliative decision-making, and the ethical and implementation questions surrounding emerging prognostic tools.

Scientific Session Moderators

Paul Riviere, MD

University of Washington

Anish Butala, MD

University of Pennsylvania

Liam Ghiam, MD

University of California, Irvine