Attitude and practice of brachytherapy in India: a study based on the survey amongst attendees of Annual Meeting of Indian Brachytherapy Society

Abstract

PurposeWe performed a survey amongst attendees of the 4th Annual Meeting of Indian Brachytherapy Society to study the patterns of brachytherapy practice and attitude towards brachytherapy use.Material and methodsA 19-point questionnaire was designed and e-mailed to the attendees immediately after the conference. Descriptive analysis of the responses were done and satisfaction index was used as a tool for evaluation of the program effectiveness. Binomial test was used to assess the difference between distributions of responses and Mann-Whitney U test was used to assess the correlation between responses. P value (2-tailed) of < 0.05 was taken significant for all statistical analysis.ResultsOf a total of 202 attendees, 90 responded to the survey (response rate: 44.5%). Seventy-two percent belonged to an academic institute while 28% belonged to non-academic institutes. Eighty-six percent were radiation oncologists and 10% were medical physicists. Eighty-nine percent respondents used high-dose-rate, 14% – pulse-dose-rate, and 13% used low-dose-rate brachytherapy facility. Orthogonal X-rays, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging was used for brachytherapy planning by 56%, 69%, and 14%, respectively. Ninety-three percent of them thought that lack of training is a hurdle in practicing brachytherapy and 92% opined that brachytherapy dedicated meetings can change their perception about brachytherapy. Seventy percent respondents admitted to make some changes in their practice patterns after attending this meeting. Ninety-seven percent of them would like to attend future meetings and 98% felt the need to include live workshops, hands on demonstrations, and video presentations in the scientific programme.ConclusionsThe survey highlights a positive attitude towards increasing brachytherapy use, and may serve as an important guiding tool in designing teaching and training programmes; thus overcoming the hurdles in successful and widespread use of a quality brachytherapy programme at radiotherapy centers.

Patterns of cervical cancer brachytherapy in India: results of an online survey supported by the Indian Brachytherapy Society

“…Finally, in terms of implementation plans in the near future, approximately one third of the respondents wish to introduce some form of image-based brachytherapy within the next 5 years. The results of a survey conducted 4 years ago amongst participants of an IBS conference identified training as the main hurdle towards practicing brachytherapy and showed resolve towards changing practice patterns after the conference [15]. This seems to be reflected in the increased uptake of imaging, especially cross sectional imaging in ICBT planning in the results of our survey.…”

“…Our survey attained a response rate of 51%, which was higher than a recent survey conducted in an LMIC [15] setting, but lower than those in an non-LMIC setting [16,17]. The majority of our respondents were from academic institutes with a single response from each institution rather than individual physicians.…”

Photon irradiation using a water bath technique for treatment of confluent carcinoma in situ of the hand, digits, and nail bed: a case report

“…Several case reports have described innovative radiotherapeutic techniques with excellent local recurrence and cosmetic results. A high-energy beta-emitter holmium 166 skin patch [10] as well as high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy utilizing iridium-192 [11] have both been utilized to treat extensive CIS with complete resolution and no sign of recurrence at 14 to 24 months following treatment. Similarly, combination therapy of PDT followed by EBRT with electrons demonstrated excellent crude control without recurrence [12].…”

“…Until recently, EBRT was rarely utilized in these cases due to high reported recurrence rates and difficulties achieving consistent surface dosing [14]. More recent case reports utilizing electron beams [5], photon beams [4], as well as HDR brachytherapy [11] in the treatment of CIS and SCC of the nail and digit have reported excellent functional outcomes without evidence of recurrence at 1 to 4 years following treatment. Similar to our protocol, Herman et al [3] utilized a water bath as a bolus for photon irradiation in nine patients with small lesions of the digit.…”

Image-based 3D dosimetric studies with high dose rate intracavitary brachytherapy of cervical cancer

“…About 89% of respondents to a recent Indian Brachytherapy Society annual meeting survey reported fractionated HDR brachytherapy mode of practice at their institutions. 8 Though HDR intracavitary brachytherapy (ICBT) practice has clear logistical advantages over the LDR-ICBT, it is worth highlighting that careful treatment planning and fractionation become far more crucial in the HDR mode for effective treatment. A modern approach in ICBT treatment planning for cervical cancer utilises computed tomography (CT) and other forms of 3D imaging for volumetric dosimetry, plan optimisation, dose prescription and reporting.…”