title: Patterns of care for brachytherapy in Europe: updated results for Spain.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Catalan Institute of Oncology, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain. guedea@iconcologia.net
authors.forename: Ferran
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guedea
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: López-Torrecilla
authors.forename: Bradley
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Londres
authors.forename: Montse
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bilbao
authors.forename: Josep M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Borràs
mesh_terms: D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011379:Prognosis; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011859:Radiography; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires