Radiotherapy

Summary  / Key takeaways

Climate change is increasing cancer risk through worsening air pollution, ultraviolet radiation exposure, infectious diseases, water contamination, and food insecurity, while simultaneously disrupting cancer care delivery through extreme weather events, infrastructure strain, and supply chain instability. Radiotherapy is resource and energy intensive, relying on high-powered equipment, complex supply chains, and repeated patient travel. Healthcare contributes approximately 5% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, with radiotherapy representing a significant opportunity for emissions reduction, operational resilience, and environmentally sustainable cancer care. 

Sustainable radiotherapy requires operational efficiency, sustainable procurement, and low-carbon models of care. Key interventions include reducing machine idle time, conducting energy audits, tracking and reducing SF6 gas use, adopting reusable or recyclable materials, and incorporating sustainability criteria into procurement processes. Hypofractionation and same-day consult, simulation, and treatment pathways can reduce treatment-related travel emissions while maintaining clinical outcomes. Additional measures include virtual care, sustainable prescribing, waste reduction, renewable energy adoption, and active transportation initiatives. 

Achieving sustainable radiotherapy requires coordinated leadership, organizational culture change, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Departments should integrate sustainability into strategic planning, accreditation standards, education, and quality improvement initiatives. Establishing sustainability committees, setting measurable targets, and engaging clinicians, executives, operations teams, and procurement partners are essential to advancing resilient, low-carbon radiation medicine systems.

Suggested Citation:

Kassam, Z., Gabara, A., Rozanec, N., Comsa, D., Lefresne, S., Wong, P., Sergeant, M., Kandasamy, S., Kaminski, J., Sypus, A., and Waddington, K. (2024). Sustainable, Socially Responsible Health Care: A Toolkit for Radiotherapy Professionals. Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care.