Villa S, Bertoni F, Bossi A, Caraffini B, Corbella F, Di Lorenzo I, Italia C, Leoni M, Nava S, Sarti E, Vavassori V, Villa E, Palazzi M
Department of Radiotherapy, Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, Milano, Italy.
Tumori. 1998 Nov-Dec;84(6):636-9. doi: 10.1177/030089169808400604.
We report the results of a survey performed in 1994 by the AIRO-Lombardia Cooperative Group, on the clinical patterns of radiation treatment for prostatic carcinoma in Lombardy, Italy, involving all radiotherapy centers serving an overall local population of about 8,800,000 people.
A questionnaire was sent to all 13 radiotherapy centers throughout Lombardy, asking for demographic and treatment details concerning the local population of patients with a localized (T1-4, N0-1, M0) carcinoma of the prostate treated with radiotherapy; 12 centers responded, making the basis for the present report.
Analysis of collected data showed that in Lombardy: a) approximately 400 patients per year are irradiated for a localized carcinoma of the prostate, accounting for less than 30% of the total expected number of patients with this disease presentation; b) a complete staging (with PSA, transrectal ultrasonography, abdomino-pelvic CT or MRI scan and total-body bone scan) is performed in over 95% of patients before initiating radiotherapy; c) significant differences exist between radiotherapy centers as regards treatment planning and delivery.
An urgent need exists for implementing procedures aimed at standardizing radiotherapy procedures within Lombardy.
