Patterns of care for brachytherapy in Europe: updated results for Spain.
Clin Transl Oncol
; 14(1): 36-42, 2012 Jan.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-22262717
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this follow-up pattern of care study was to evaluate current clinical practices, staffing and equipment, and to compare these results to a study performed 5 years previously. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive, pattern of care study was carried out via an online questionnaire. The survey was sent to a total of 95 cancer care centres in Spain. RESULTS: Seventy-three centres (76.8%) responded to the survey. More than half (57.5%) of responding centres offered brachytherapy (BT). A mean of 120 patients/centre were treated by BT in 2007. The most common localisations were the endometrium (29.6% of cases), prostate (29.6%), cervix uteri (14.6%), breast (12.6%), head and neck (3.6%) and vagina (2.5%). Other sites accounted for less than 2% of cases each. Most centres that offered BT (33/40 = 82.5%) were equipped with a dedicated BT operating room. The most commonly reported dosimetric method was CT dosimetry (31 of 40 centres = 77.5%), followed by plain film (30/40 = 75%), ultrasound (26/40 = 65%), MRI (8/40 = 20%), in vivo (7/40 = 17.5%) and PET-CT (5/40 = 12.5%) dosimetry. CONCLUSION: The three most common treatment sites (gynaecological, breast and prostate) remain unchanged from 2002, with prostate treatments showing large increase. Advanced dosimetric techniques (MRI, PET-CT and CT-dosimetry) continue to gain adherents. Some centres treat small numbers of patients, a finding that deserves more attention in terms of cost and quality of care. Although BT remains strong in Spain, it could be further strengthened by making modern dosimetric techniques and treatments more widely available.
Buscar en Google
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Admisión y Programación de Personal
/
Calidad de la Atención de Salud
/
Pautas de la Práctica en Medicina
/
Braquiterapia
/
Neoplasias
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Clin Transl Oncol
Año:
2012
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
España
Pais de publicación:
Italia