How do you do it?: Gynecologic brachytherapy best practices at high volume institutions within the United States and Canada

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Definitive treatment including chemoradiation and brachytherapy for patients diagnosed with locally advanced cervical cancer requires significant multidisciplinary coordination. Our goal was to assess and share gynecologic brachytherapy best practices from high volume brachytherapy centers.

METHODS

A survey was sent to 42 centers within the United States and Canada that perform a high volume of complex gynecologic brachytherapy.

RESULTS

Responses were collected from 32/42 (76%) institutions. 41% of responding institutions perform > 100 complex brachytherapy procedures per year. Most departments have >1 brachytherapist and 85% of respondents complete 1–2 complex brachytherapy procedures per day. 91% of surveyed departments have support staff specifically devoted to brachytherapy. Approximately 50% of intracavitary/hybrid procedures are performed in departmental brachytherapy suites. Institutions use MRI (35%), CT (24%) or a combination (24%) for treatment planning. 88% of respondents use sedation for tandem based procedures. Respondents cite high complexity of care, insufficient reimbursement, untimely referrals, shared operative and clinical duties, expensive applicator acquisition and complex scheduling as challenging aspects of providing brachytherapy services. Conversely, respondents cite a dedicated team, departmental brachytherapy suite, well organized coordination of procedures and personnel, anesthesia support, a full range of applicators, image-based planning near the department and supportive administration as integral components in providing brachytherapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Most surveyed institutions have >1 brachytherapist who perform 1–2 procedures per day in a dedicated brachytherapy space with a team that assists with coordination and scheduling efforts. A well supported multidisciplinary team is vital to ensure state of the art brachytherapy which is essential in curing these challenging malignancies.