Abstract
In Austria, a Patterns of Care Study (PCS) has been conducted to evaluate the standards of practice for breast cancer patients. The year 1985 was selected in order to establish a base data set. At all nine radiation therapy facilities active in patient treatment in 1985, ten patients charts were randomly selected and reviewed. Evaluation of the radiotherapeutic standards was the principal purpose, however, surgical and histopathological parameters were also considered. Results of the Austrian PCS (including 90 patients) were compared with the "1983 Patterns of Care Process Survey for Definitive Breast Irradiation" performed in 1983 in the U.S. (including 191 patients). Documentation of pathologic tumour size (83% vs. 73%), histologic tumour subtype (99% vs. 97%) and microscopic margin analysis (60% vs. 51%) showed comparable results. Technical equipment was obviously quite different in the two countries, cobalt therapy was used in 25% in the US-PCS compared to 71% in the Austrian PCS. A clear difference also was obtained concerning the use of wedges for tangential breast/thoracic wall fields (64% vs. 21%) and the frequency of portal films (93% vs. 26%). Comparing both PCS studies, we found overall many similarities. Differences...Continue Reading
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