What to choose as radical local treatment for lung metastases from cob-rectal cancer: Surgery or radiofrequency ablation?

Background: Long-term survival can be obtained with local treatment of lung metastases from colorectal cancer. However, it is unclear as to what the optimal local therapy is: surgery, radiofrequency ablation (RFA) or stereotactic radiotherapy (SBRT). Methods: A systematic review included 27 studies matching with the a priori selection criteria, the most important being >= 50 patients and a follow-up period of >= 24 months. No SBRT studies were eligible. The review was therefore conducted on 4 RFA and 23 surgical series. Results: Four of the surgical studies were prospective, all others were retrospective. No randomized trial was found. The reporting of data differed between the studies, which led to difficulties in the analyses. Treatment-related mortality rates for RFA and surgery were 0% and 1.4-2.4%, respectively, whereas morbidity rates were reported inconsistently but seemed the lowest for surgery. Conclusion: Due to the lack of phase III trials, no firm conclusions can be drawn, although most evidence supports surgery as the most effective treatment option. High-quality trials comparing currently used treatment modalities such as SBRT, RFA and surgery are needed to inform treatment decisions

The impact of late treatment-toxicity on generic health-related quality of life in head and neck cancer patients after radiotherapy

SummaryTo examine the impact of late treatment-related xerostomia and dysphagia on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients after radiotherapy. A multi-center cross-sectional survey was performed. Patients with a follow-up of at least 6months after curative radiotherapy, without evidence of recurrent disease were eligible for inclusion. The Euroqol-5D questionnaire (EQ-5D) was filled out and toxicity was scored and converted to the RTOG scale. The EQ-5D measures generic HRQOL in terms of utility and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores. Missing data on the EQ-5D were imputed using multiple imputation. HRQOL was compared between subgroups of patients with and without toxicity. Subsequently, the impact of xerostomia and dysphagia on HRQOL was analyzed using multivariate regression analyses. Both analyses were performed separately for utility scores and VAS scores. The study population was composed of 396 HNC patients. The average utility and VAS scores were 0.85 (scale 0–1) and 75 (scale 0–100). Subgroups of patients with xerostomia and/or dysphagia showed statistically significantly lower utility and VAS scores (P=0.000–0.022). The multivariate regression model showed that xerostomia and dysphagia were negative predictors of both utility and VAS scores. Other factors which influenced HRQOL in at least one of the two regression models were: sex, tumor location and the addition of surgery to radiotherapy. Xerostomia and dysphagia diminish generic HRQOL. Moreover dysphagia affects patients’ HRQOL stronger than xerostomia

Choosing between measures: comparison of EQ-5D, HUI2 and HUI3 in persons with hearing complaints

OBJECTIVES: To generate insight into the differences between utility measures EuroQol 5D (EQ-5D), Health Utilities Index Mark II (HUI2) and Mark III (HUI3) and their impact on the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for hearing aid fitting METHODS: Persons with hearing complaints completed EQ-5D, HUI2 and HUI3 at baseline and, when applicable, after hearing aid fitting. Practicality, construct validity, agreement, responsiveness and impact on the ICER were examined. RESULTS: All measures had high completion rates. HUI3 was capable of discriminating between clinically distinctive groups. Utility scores (n = 315) for EQ-5D UK and Dutch tariff (0.83; 0.86), HUI2 (0.77) and HUI3 (0.61) were significantly different, agreement was low to moderate. Change after hearing aid fitting (n = 70) for HUI2 (0.07) and HUI3 (0.12) was statistically significant, unlike the EQ-5D UK (0.01) and Dutch (0.00) tariff. ICERs varied from 647,209 euros/QALY for the EQ-5D Dutch tariff to 15,811 euros/QALY for HUI3. CONCLUSION: Utility scores, utility gain and ICERs heavily depend on the measure that is used to elicit them. This study indicates HUI3 as the instrument of first choice when measuring utility in a population with hearing complaints, but emphasizes the importance of a clear notion of what constitutes utility with regard to economic analyse

How can robot-assisted surgery provide value for money?

Objectives To develop an interactive tool that estimates what potential benefits are needed for the robot to provide value for money when compared with endoscopic or open surgical interventions.Design A generic online interactive tool was developed to analyze the (health) effects needed to compensate for the additional costs of using a surgical robotic system from a healthcare perspective. The application of the tool is illustrated with a hypothetical new surgical robotic platform. A synthesis of evidence from different sources was used combined with interviews with surgeons.Setting Flexible tool that can be adapted to flexible settings.Participants Any hospital patient group for which robotic, endoscopic or open surgical procedures may be considered as appropriate treatment alternatives (eg, urology, gynecology, and so on).Intervention Robotically assisted surgical interventions.Comparator Endoscopic or open surgical interventions.Main outcome measures Thresholds of how much (health) effect is needed for robot-assisted surgery to provide value for money and to become cost-effective.Results The utilization rate of the surgical robotic system and a reduction in complications appeared to be important aspects in determining the value for money. To become cost-effective, it was deemed important for new surgical robotic systems to have added clinical benefit and become less costly than the current system.Conclusions This paper and its assisting interactive tool can be used by clinicians, researchers, and policymakers to gain insight in the benefit needed to provide value for money when using a (new) surgical robotic system or, when the effects are known or can be estimated, to assess the value for money for a specific indication. For robotic surgery to provide most value for money, we recommend assessing for each indication whether the necessary effects seem achievable

Cost-effectiveness modelling in diagnostic imaging: a stepwise approach

Diagnostic imaging (DI) is the fastest growing sector in med-ical expenditures and takes a central role in medical decision-making. The increasing number of various and new imaging technologies induces a growing demand for cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) in imaging technology assessment. In this article we provide a comprehensive framework of direct and indirect effects that should be considered for CEA in DI, suit-able for all imaging modalities. We describe and explain the methodology of decision analytic modelling in six steps aiming to transfer theory of CEA to clinical research by dem-onstrating key principles of CEA in a practical approach. We thereby provide radiologists with an introduction to the tools necessary to perform and interpret CEA as part of their re-search and clinical practice. Key Points • DI influences medical decision making, affecting both costs and health outcome. • This article provides a comprehensive framework for CEA in DI. • A six-step methodology for conducting and interpreting cost-effectiveness modelling is proposed

Do We Have Enough Evidence to Implement Particle Therapy as Standard Treatment in Lung Cancer? A Systematic Literature Review

BACKGROUND. The societal burden of lung cancer is high because of its high incidence and high lethality. From a theoretical point of view, radiotherapy with beams of protons and heavier charged particles, for example, carbon ions (C-ions), should lead to superior results, compared with photon beams. In this review, we searched for clinical evidence to justify implementation of particle therapy as standard treatment in lung cancer. METHODS. A systematic literature review based on an earlier published comprehensive review was performed and updated through November 2009. RESULTS. Eleven fully published studies, all dealing with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), mainly stage I, were identified. No phase III trials were found. For proton therapy, 2- to 5-year local tumor control rates varied in the range of 57%–87%. The 2- and 5-year overall survival (OS) and 2- and 5-year cause-specific survival (CSS) rates were 31%–74% and 23% and 58%–86% and 46%, respectively. Radiation-induced pneumonitis was observed in about 10% of patients. For C-ion therapy, the overall local tumor control rate was 77%, but it was 95% when using a hypofractionated radiation schedule. The 5-year OS and CSS rates were 42% and 60%, respectively. Slightly better results were reported when using hypofractionation, 50% and 76%, respectively. CONCLUSION. The present results with protons and heavier charged particles are promising. However, the current lack of evidence on the clinical (cost-)effectiveness of particle therapy emphasizes the need to investigate the efficiency of particle therapy in an adequate manner. Until these results are available for lung cancer, charged particle therapy should be considered experimental