The role of radiotherapy in cancer treatment
- Study type
- Review article
- Design
- Modelling study based on a review of evidence-based clinical guidelines (an optimal radiotherapy utilisation tree, with univariate sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo simulation)
- Sample size
- Not a clinical trial; no individual patients were enrolled. The estimate is based on epidemiological data on new cancer cases.
- Source
- Cancer · 2005
In plain words
Radiotherapy is one of the main ways of treating cancer, and the share of patients who receive it varies a great deal between countries. By reviewing evidence-based treatment guidelines, this study estimated that about 52% of people with cancer should receive radiotherapy at least once during their illness. Comparison with real-world figures shows that in practice less radiotherapy is given than this. This finding can help with better planning of radiotherapy services.
Key results
Study population
No individual patients were enrolled. For each cancer type, indications for radiotherapy were taken from evidence-based treatment guidelines, and by adding epidemiological data, the proportion of patients with clinical features likely to benefit from radiotherapy was obtained.
Endpoints
The aim was to estimate the ideal proportion of new cancer cases that should receive radiotherapy at least once during their illness, based on the best available evidence.
Safety and side effects
This study does not report safety outcomes or treatment adverse events; its subject is the estimation of radiotherapy need.
Clinical significance and place in guidelines
This evidence-based estimate shows that about 52% of patients with cancer have an indication for external beam radiotherapy. This figure can serve as a benchmark for comparing actual radiotherapy utilisation and for planning radiotherapy resources and services. The study is a model based on the guidelines of its time and does not determine the individual treatment of any patient. The status of current guidelines should be checked separately.
Limitations
The abstract does not state limitations explicitly. The estimate depends on the guidelines and epidemiological data used at the time of the study and may differ from today's guidelines. The narrow Monte Carlo confidence interval reflects only the uncertainty of the model inputs. An erratum has been published for this paper (Cancer. 2006;107(3):660), which should be checked in the full text.
This summary was prepared by the editorial team from the published paper; the original paper is the final reference. Read the original abstract on PubMed.