title: Infrastructures, treatment modalities, and workload of radiation oncology departments in Spain with special attention to prostate cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the study was to describe infrastructures, treatment modalities, and workload in radiation oncology (RO) in Spain, referred particularly to prostate cancer (PC).
  
  
  METHODS
  An epidemiologic, cross-sectional study was performed during 2008-2009. A study-specific questionnaire was sent to the 108 RO-registered departments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred and two departments answered the survey, and six were contacted by telephone. Centers operated 236 treatment units: 23 (9.7 %) cobalt machines, 37 (15.7 %) mono-energetic linear accelerators, and 176 (74.6 %) multi-energy linear accelerators. Sixty-one (56.4 %) and 33 (30.5 %) departments, respectively, reported intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and image-guided RT (IGRT) capabilities; three-dimensional-conformal RT was used in 75.8 % of patients. Virtual simulators were present in 95 departments (88.0 %), 35 use conventional simulators. Fifty-one departments (47.2 %) have brachytherapy units, 38 (35.2 %) perform prostatic implants. Departments saw a mean of 24.9 new patients/week; the number of patients treated annually was 102,054, corresponding to 88.4 % of patients with a RT indication. In 56.5 % of the hospitals, multidisciplinary teams were available to treat PC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results provide an accurate picture of current situation of RO in Spain, showing a trend toward the progressive introduction of new technologies (IMRT, IGRT, brachytherapy).
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology-ERESA, Hospital General Universitario, Avda. Tres Cruces 2, 46007, Valencia, Spain, jltorrecilla@eresa.com.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: López Torrecilla
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authors.lastname: Zapatero
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authors.lastname: Herruzo
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authors.lastname: Palacios
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authors.lastname: Guerrero
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authors.lastname: Ludeña Martínez
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authors.lastname: Nagore
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authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Martínez Cedrés
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authors.lastname: Ferrer
authors.forename: S
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authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
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authors.lastname: Gómez Caamaño
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authors.lastname: Ferrer
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006748:Hospital Departments / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D018787:Radiation Oncology; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016526:Workload