Philip Poortmans
Antwerp, Belgium
Work experience
After a short stay in Turnhout, Belgium, I started working as a radiation oncologist in Tilburg in 1991, where I would stay for 23 years. From August 2014 to February 2017, I was head of the radiation oncology department of the Radboud university medical centre in Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Between March 1, 2017 and end of November 2019, I was head of the radiation oncology department of Institut Curie, Paris – St. Cloud – Orsay, France. Since November 7, 2017 I am Marie Curie Professor of the Paris Science & Lettres University & Institut Curie. From April 2020 till March 2023, I was part-time medical advisor for Sordina IORT Technologies spa in the framework of the developments in FLASH-RT. In July 2020, I started as radiation oncologist at Iridium Netwerk. Since October 2020, I am associate professor at the University of Antwerp, Belgium.
Education and training
Title of qualification awarded: M.D., Ph.D.
Principal subjects/occupational skills covered: Personally, I am especially interested in breast cancer, quality assurance in clinical trials, malignant lymphoma and rare tumours. Most of my publications focus on these topics. I completed my Ph.D. thesis on quality assurance in clinical trials in breast cancer in 2005 at the University of Maastricht with Philippe Lambin and Walter Van den Bogaert as promoters.
Name and type of organisation providing education and training: After completing my medical studies at the University of Antwerp, in 1986, I was trained as a radiation oncologist at the Middelheim and Vincentius Hospitals in Antwerp under the supervision of colleagues including Walter Van den Bogaert, Guy Langerock, Anne Strubbe, Allan Van Oosterom, Daniëlle Van de Weyngaert and Pierre Scalliet.
Personal skills and competences
The first 2 decades of my professional career, I considered myself to be a patient doctor with strong interests and a broad experience in clinical research, education and management.
I favour and encourage a genuine multidisciplinary approach to cancer treatment, foster a culture of information and consent with respect to each patient and, finally, interdisciplinary teamwork with highly qualified colleagues such as medical physicists, radiotherapy therapists / nurses and other experts in specific areas of radiation oncology. In recent years, including the positions of head of department at Radboud umc and Institut Curie, the presidency of ESTRO and ECCO, I have been heavily involved in hospital management and international organizations.
Being a Dutch-speaking Belgian, I live in a particular part of Europe which I consider to be the crossroad between North and South. This geographically privileged position has consequently enabled me to work and evolve as a bridge builder within and outside the radiation oncology community in Europe and abroad. I even see the diversity in Europe and the rest of the world as a great opportunity to further broaden our knowledge and approach towards all our partners in oncology, including the patients.
For many years now, my involvement in teaching takes an important part of my time. Internationally, in the framework of the ESTRO School of Radiotherapy and Oncology, I serve as course director of the teaching course “Multidisciplinary Management of Breast Cancer”, on alternate years general and for (A)PBI, and as liaison person for multidisciplinary courses. Currently, I am also member of the faculty for educational activities of ESMO; ESSO and ESO.
For several years now, I am member of the editorial committees of several guidelines for breast cancer (EUSOMA; ESTRO; ESMO; St Gallen) and for cancer and pregnancy (ESGO / INCIP; ESMO; AKZ (Adviesgroep Kanker en Zwangerschap); ABCIP). In 2005, I was elected as councillor of the board of ESTRO for a term of 3 years. For 3 years, starting in 2007, I was the representative for radiation oncology in the Multidisciplinary Oncology Committee of ESMO. After the elections for the ESTRO presidency in 2013, I received the support from the membership to take on the task as president-elect, from 2014-2016 as president of the European SocieTy for Radiotherapy & Oncology and from 2016-2018 as past-president of ESTRO. In 2016 and 2017, I chaired the “Oncopolicy” committee of ECCO, followed by the position of president of ECCO, serving in 2018 and 2019. During 2020, I continue to serve for one year as past-president of ECCO.
Additional information
What I especially appreciated in the Dutch way of working in radiation oncology are the good organisation encouraging the set-up of medium sized to large departments that can be equipped with complete and up-to-date infrastructure. In combination with a very good national collaboration (rather than competition), this facilitates greatly the participation in activities at the international level like in clinical trial research. Other important and attractive aspects are the truly multidisciplinary approach in the treatment of cancer patients, the culture of excellent patient information and inform consent and, last but not least, the support by highly trained and skilled collaborators including physicists, radiation therapists, data managers and other specific professions in radiation oncology. This 26-years long experience serves my greatly in my current activities in a large network in Belgium, helping as member of multidisciplinary teams to even further improve the outcomes of our efforts in health care, together with the patients themselves as much as possible.
I have a longstanding tradition of active involvement in the EORTC, especially in the Radiation Oncology and Lymphoma Groups but also directly and indirectly in other groups through the input of medical oncologists, haematologists and other members of the multidisciplinary team treating the cancer patients in our region. In the function of secretary and Quality Assurance officer of the Radiation Oncology Group I had the opportunity to participate in the writing of several protocols and to coordinate the quality assurance in a number of radiotherapy studies. From 2004 until 2015, I was member of the Quality Assurance Committee of the EORTC. For the Lymphoma Group, I co-ordinated a prospective phase II trial in primary central nervous system lymphoma. I am an active member of the EORTC Breast Group as well. Beside this, I contributed frequently in the framework of other multicentre initiatives like a growing number of Dutch clinical trials and the projects of the Rare Cancer Network. Other activities include membership of the editorial boards of Radiotherapy and Oncology, The Breast (specialty editor for radiation oncology), Cancer Radiothérapie, Egyptian Journal of Oncology, Revista de Senologia y Patologia Mamaria (associate editor), Reports of Practical Oncology and Radiotherapy, Breast Cancer, European Journal of Surgical Oncology (editorial advisory board for radiation therapy), The European Journal of Breast Health, the Journal of Radiation and Medical Oncology (Romania), Breast Cancer Research and Treatment and, finally, Scripta Medica (Bosnia-Herzegovina). In 2018-2019, I was member of the “International Advisory Board” of The Lancet Oncology. Moreover, I served and serve in several scientific committees, international advisory boards and make active contributions to a number of conferences, teaching courses and workshops or as reviewer for several journals and trial organisations. In 2015, I was member of the Quality Assurance Scheme Development Group of the European Initiative on Breast Cancer (ECIBC) from the European Commission. Since 2015, I am member of the steering committee of the Early Breast Cancer Trialists Collaborative Group (EBCTCG).
For the “scientific output”, I refer to PubMed (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Poortmans+P). Apart from these articles, I wrote a number of other papers and contributed actively to several book chapters. In 2012, the 5th edition of the textbook “Technical Basis of Radiation Therapy. Practical Clinical Implications.”, that I co-edited together with our famous colleagues Seymour H. Levitt, James A. Purdy and Carlos A. Perez, was released by Springer. My “H-index” is currently 84. In June 2022, a new textbook “Breast Cancer Radiation Therapy: A Practical Guide for Technical Applications”, also with Springer as publisher, was released. This book I co-edited in a team with Icro Meattini (Florence), under the leadership of Orit- Kaidar-Person (Tel-Hashomer).
I was granted an honorary membership of BVRO/ABRO in 2012, by ESSO in 2014, of SEOR in 2015, of AROI in 2016, of BIGOSA in 2016 and of JASTRO in 2017. I was nominated as “Toparts” (Outstanding doctor) by the Dutch radiation oncologists in 2011 and 2012. In 2016, I gave the Cridlan lecture during the meeting of the Association of Breast Surgery in Manchester, UK. I received the Jens Overgaard Award from ESTRO in 2019 and the Klaas Breur Award from ESTRO in 2020. On 17 March 2021, I received the St. Gallen Breast Cancer Award.
I am visiting professor at Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, Australia (2015), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA (2017), the University of Florence, Italy (2020), the University of Banja Luka, Bosnia Herzegovina (2022) and the first Carolyn Freeman Visiting professor in Radiation Oncology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada (2022).
I serve in advisory and expert functions for several international organisations, including GenesisCare; Affidea; IEO European Institute of Oncology; ISSECAM – Mirrors of Medicine Breast; SPCC – “Sharing Progress in Cancer Care and some others”. I mentor 2 Romanian young colleagues in the framework of the ESCO Mentorship programme 2022-2023 and 1 Romanian colleague in the framework of ESTRO’s mentorship programme 2023-2024, apart from mentoring several more young colleagues in a more informal manner.
