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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2011 Oct 1;117(19):4566-72.
doi: 10.1002/cncr.26067. Epub 2011 Mar 15.

A survey of stereotactic body radiotherapy use in the United States

Hubert Pan  1 , Daniel R Simpson, Loren K Mell, Arno J Mundt, Joshua D Lawson
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

A survey of stereotactic body radiotherapy use in the United States

Hubert Pan et al. Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is a technique used to deliver high, ablative doses of radiation in a limited number of fractions to ≥ 1 extracranial target(s). To the authors' knowledge, the prevalence of SBRT use among radiation oncologists in the United States is unknown.

Methods: A random sample of 1600 American radiation oncologists was surveyed via e-mail and facsimile (fax) regarding SBRT usage, including year of adoption, motivations, disease sites treated, and common prescriptions used.

Results: Of 1373 contactable physicians, 551 responses (40.1%) were received. The percentage of physicians using SBRT was 63.9% (95% confidence interval, 60%-68%), of whom nearly half adopted it in 2008 or later. The most commonly cited reasons for adopting SBRT were to allow the delivery of higher than conventional radiation doses (90.3%) and to allow retreatment (73.9%) in select patients. Academic physicians were more likely to report research as a motivation for SBRT adoption, whereas physicians in private practice were more likely to list competitive reasons. Among SBRT users, the most common disease sites treated were lung (89.3%), spine (67.5%), and liver (54.5%) tumors. Overall, 76.0% of current SBRT users planned to increase their use, whereas 66.5% of nonusers planned to adopt the technology in the future.

Conclusions: SBRT has rapidly become a widely adopted treatment approach among American radiation oncologists. Further research and prospective trials are necessary to assess the benefits and risks of this novel technology.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) survey respondents.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cumulative adoption of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for the treatment of any disease site.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Reasons cited by academic and private practice physicians for adopting stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). Asterisks denote P < 0.05.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Cumulative adoption of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for the three most common disease sites treated: lung, spine, and liver.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Disease sites treated by stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) users that responded to the survey.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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