ASTRO (the American Society for Radiation Oncology) is a

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that professio ...

radiation oncology Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radia ...

that is dedicated to improving patient care through professional education and training, support for clinical practice and health policy standards, advancement of science and research, and advocacy. ASTRO has a membership of more than 10,000 members covering a range of professions including

Radiation Oncologist A radiation oncologist is a specialist physician who uses ionizing radiation (such as megavoltage X-rays or radionuclides) in the treatment of cancer. Radiation oncology is one of the three primary specialties, the other two being surgical and m ...

, Radiation Therapists, Medical Dosimetrists

Medical Physicist A medical physicist is a health professional with specialist education and training in the concepts and techniques of applying physics in medicine and competent to practice independently in one or more of the subfields (specialties) of medical physi ...

s, Radiation Oncology Nurses and Radiation Biologists.

Names

The organization began in 1958 as the American Club of Therapeutic Radiologists. In 1966 it became the American Society for Therapeutic Radiologists (ASTR). In 1983 it became ASTRO (the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology). In 2008 it became ASTRO (the American Society for Radiation Oncology), keeping the acronym ASTRO while redefining its

expansion Expansion may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''L'Expansion'', a French monthly business magazine * ''Expansion'' (album), by American jazz pianist Dave Burrell, released in 2004 * ''Expansions'' (McCoy Tyner album), 1970 * ''Expansio ...

. The members decided that the term "therapeutic radiology" was outdated and confusing to a general audience and that the new name would better reflect the specialty.

Publications

ASTRO publishes a weekly electronic newsletter called the ASTROgram and a quarterly magazine called the ASTROnews''.'' ASTRO has a scientific publishing program that includes three peer-reviewed journals. The ''International Journal of Radiation*Oncology*Biology*Physics'' (Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys), also known as the Red Journal, is published 15 times each year. In 2011, ASTRO began publishing ''Practical Radiation Oncology''. Also called ''P.R.O.'', it is a journal whose mission is to improve the quality of radiation oncology practice. ASTRO launched an online only open access (OA) journal in 2015 called ''Advances in Radiation Oncology'' as a sister journal to Red Journal and PRO. It also publishes teaching cases and brief communications in radiation oncology.

References

External links

* {{authority control Medical associations based in the United States Medical and health organizations based in Virginia