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Current Oncology
Volume 23
Issue 5
10.3747/co.23.3359
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Current Oncology is published by MDPI from Volume 28 Issue 1 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher in Open Access under a CC-BY (or CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, and they are hosted by MDPI on mdpi.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Multimed Inc..
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Article

Use of Low-Value Radiotherapy Practices in Canada: An Analysis of Provincial Cancer Registry Data

by
K. Tran
1,*,
R. Rahal
1,
M. Brundage
2,
S. Fung
1,
C. Louzado
1,
M. Milosevic
3,
J. Xu
1,
H. Bryant
1,4 in collaboration with the System Performance Steering Committee and
Technical Working Group
1
Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, Toronto, ON, Canada
2
Departments of Oncology and of Public Health Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
3
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, and Cancer Clinical Research Unit, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
4
Departments of Community Health Sciences and of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Curr. Oncol. 2016, 23(5), 351-355; https://doi.org/10.3747/co.23.3359
Submission received: 18 July 2016 / Revised: 15 August 2016 / Accepted: 12 September 2016 / Published: 1 October 2016

Abstract

Background: As part of Choosing Wisely Canada (a national campaign to encourage patient–provider conversations about unnecessary medical tests, treatments, and procedures), a list of ten oncology practices that could be low-value in some instances was developed. Of those practices, two were specific to radiation therapy (rt): conventional fractionation as part of breast-conserving therapy (bct) for women with early-stage breast cancer, and multifraction radiation for palliation of uncomplicated painful bone metastases. Here, we report baseline findings for the current utilization rates of those two rt practices in Canada. Results: The use of conventional fractionation as part of bct varied substantially from province to province. Of women 50 years of age and older, between 8.8% (Alberta) and 36.5% (Saskatchewan) received radiation in 25 fractions (excluding boost irradiation) as part of bct. The use of hypofractionated rt (that is, 16 fractions excluding boost irradiation)—a preferred approach for many patients—was more common in all 6 reporting provinces, ranging from 43.2% in Saskatchewan to 94.7% in Prince Edward Island. The use of multifraction rt for palliation of bone metastases also varied from province to province, ranging from 40.3% in British Columbia to 69.0% in Saskatchewan. The most common number of fractions delivered to bone metastases was 1, at 50.2%; the second most common numbers were 2–5 fractions, at 41.7%. Conclusions: Understanding variation in the use of potentially low-value rt practices can help to inform future strategies to promote higher-value care, which balances high-quality care with the efficient use of limited system resources. Further work is needed to understand the factors contributing to the interprovincial variation observed and to develop benchmarks for the appropriate rate of use of these rt practices.
Keywords: breast cancer; bone metastasis; radiation; appropriateness; patterns of care breast cancer; bone metastasis; radiation; appropriateness; patterns of care

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Tran, K.; Rahal, R.; Brundage, M.; Fung, S.; Louzado, C.; Milosevic, M.; Xu, J.; Bryant, H., in collaboration with the System Performance Steering Committee; Working Group, T. Use of Low-Value Radiotherapy Practices in Canada: An Analysis of Provincial Cancer Registry Data. Curr. Oncol. 2016, 23, 351-355. https://doi.org/10.3747/co.23.3359

AMA Style

Tran K, Rahal R, Brundage M, Fung S, Louzado C, Milosevic M, Xu J, Bryant H in collaboration with the System Performance Steering Committee, Working Group T. Use of Low-Value Radiotherapy Practices in Canada: An Analysis of Provincial Cancer Registry Data. Current Oncology. 2016; 23(5):351-355. https://doi.org/10.3747/co.23.3359

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tran, K., R. Rahal, M. Brundage, S. Fung, C. Louzado, M. Milosevic, J. Xu, H. Bryant in collaboration with the System Performance Steering Committee, and Technical Working Group. 2016. "Use of Low-Value Radiotherapy Practices in Canada: An Analysis of Provincial Cancer Registry Data" Current Oncology 23, no. 5: 351-355. https://doi.org/10.3747/co.23.3359

APA Style

Tran, K., Rahal, R., Brundage, M., Fung, S., Louzado, C., Milosevic, M., Xu, J., Bryant, H., in collaboration with the System Performance Steering Committee, & Working Group, T. (2016). Use of Low-Value Radiotherapy Practices in Canada: An Analysis of Provincial Cancer Registry Data. Current Oncology, 23(5), 351-355. https://doi.org/10.3747/co.23.3359

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