Patterns of Care in the Radiotherapy of Prostate Cancer in Northern Bavaria 1998–2000

Abstract

From 1998 to 2000, radical RT for prostate cancer at the Northern Bavarian centers now studied was performed with three-dimensional conformal technique to conservative total doses and selection criteria for postoperative RT were highly variable.

Consensus and differences in primary radiotherapy for localized and locally advanced prostate cancer in Switzerland

“…Several patterns of practice studies on prostate cancer radiotherapy have been performed in different countries, either by population-based analyses [18,24,25] or as multicenter surveys [15,17,26,27], in order to assess adherence to national guidelines or to provide an additional source of standards of care and therapeutic recommendations [28]. Our study provides a comprehensive overview of current patterns of practice for risk group-adapted primary radiotherapy and ADT for prostate cancer in Switzerland.…”

“…For all prognostic factor combinations, a dose of 78 Gy was that most commonly recommended, with the highest consensus level for high-risk disease. The level of consensus is represented by a red-green gradient (green representing higher consensus) national guidelines [3,4] and similar to IMRT dose recommendations from other recent national surveys [17,26]; however, they were clearly higher when compared to patterns of care studies from previous years [18,24,29]. Most interestingly, one center has adopted a hypofractionated radiotherapy schedule as standard treatment for all risk groups, which has also been recognized as a valid treatment option in the most recent NCCN guidelines [3].…”

“…Patterns of care studies on primary EBRT for prostate cancer have been performed in several countries using populationbased or survey-based analyses [15][16][17][18].…”

Prostate Cancer Radiotherapy in Austria

“…Primary localized prostate cancer patients should receive a dose of at least 70-72 Gy. Vordermark et al [14] investigated the local dose applied in 4 different centers from northern Bavaria treated in 1998-2000. Primary prostate cancer patients received a dose of 64.8-71 Gy.…”

Exposure of Treating Physician to Radiation during Prostate Brachytherapy Using Iodine-125 Seeds

“…The reasons are the increase in the proportion of low-risk cancers and new treatment techniques [26]. Brachytherapy of the prostate with iodine-125 seeds was introduced in Switzerland in 2001 and is increasing in importance.…”