Patterns of care for brachytherapy in Europe: updated results.
OBJECTIVE
This descriptive survey evaluated brachytherapy (BT) practices and resources in the European area. This was a follow-up study to the original patterns of care for brachytherapy in Europe (PCBE).


METHODS
A total of 1121 radiotherapy (RT) centres from 41 countries were asked to complete an online questionnaire on BT practices and resources. Countries with fewer than 50% of centres responding were excluded. Participating countries were divided into three groups based on gross domestic product (GDP); group I contained the countries with the highest GDP.


RESULTS
The response rate was 56% (633/1121 centres) with 30/41 countries (73%) meeting the inclusion criteria. Sixty percent of reporting centres provided brachytherapy. Responding centres treated an average of 138 (±10, 1 SD) patients with BT; in group I, the mean was 110/centre, an increase of 18% from 2002. CT-dosimetry increased to 61% of centres vs. 33% in 2002. HDR (high-dose rate) BT was the most commonly reported technique (65% of centres). Most BT interventions were for gynaecological tumors (59% of all cases), followed by prostate (17%), breast (9%), lung/bronchus (3%), and esophagus tumors(2%).


CONCLUSIONS
Gynaecological BT remains the most common application, although both prostate and breast BT have increased. CT-based dosimetry has become increasingly common since 2002. The use of HDR and PDR (pulsed-dose rate) techniques has increased markedly, while both LDR and MDR (medium-dose rate) have declined.
Department of Radiation Oncology, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain. guedea@iconcologia.net
Ferran
F
Guedea
Jack
J
Venselaar
Peter
P
Hoskin
Taran Paulsen
TP
Hellebust
Didier
D
Peiffert
Bradley
B
Londres
Montse
M
Ventura
Jean-Jacques
JJ
Mazeron
Erik Van
EV
Limbergen
Richard
R
Pötter
Gyorgy
G
Kovacs
D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy; D002173:Cancer Care Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003625:Data Collection; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D005833:Genital Neoplasms, Female / Q000532:radiotherapy; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage