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Clinical Audit of the Radiotherapy Process in Rectal Cancer: Clinical Practice Guidelines and Quality Certification
M G Torras1, E Canals2, D Jurado-Bruggeman3
1Clinical Management Department, Institut Català d'Oncologia, Spain.
Translational Oncology
|April 29, 2018
Summary
This clinical audit of rectal cancer radiotherapy found suboptimal adherence to guidelines and significant variability in care processes between centers, impacting therapeutic quality.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Radiation Oncology
- Clinical Audit
Background:
- Rectal cancer treatment is complex, often involving radiotherapy.
- Radiotherapy is a key modality, used alone or with other treatments.
- Assessing radiotherapy processes is crucial for improving cancer care quality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To audit the radiotherapy process for rectal cancer.
- To evaluate adherence to established protocols.
- To identify variability in care to enhance therapeutic quality.
Main Methods:
- Multicenter retrospective cohort study.
- Analysis of 40 random clinical histories per center.
- Development of indicators to assess key radiotherapy process areas.
Main Results:
- Adherence to planned dose was high (96.7%), but timely delivery was suboptimal (57.4%).
- Tumor to mesorectal fascia distance (rCRM) was missing in 38.3% of MRI reports.
- Significant inter-center variability was noted in CRM reporting and overall process organization.
Conclusions:
- The radiotherapy process for rectal cancer shows suboptimal adherence to clinical guidelines.
- Substantial variability exists between centers in clinical and organizational aspects.
- Improvements in standardization and adherence are needed to optimize rectal cancer treatment outcomes.
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