Abstract
Background
Despite the pivotal role of radiotherapy in oncology, the provision of radiation treatments remains inadequate in many areas of the world. The present report is an assessment conducted among Radiation Oncology centers of Veneto region with the aim to collect information concerning radiotherapy assets and technological equipment availability.
Methods
Data concerning Veneto Radiation Oncology departments about radiotherapy activities, number of treatments, techniques used and radiotherapy machines available were collected. The reference time period was 2018. Reimbursement system databases and business intelligence systems were used. Extra-regional attraction and migration were evaluated. When available, data were compared to previous years.
Results
Veneto in 2018 was endowed with 1 megavolt unit for about 153,000 inhabitants. The number of megavolt machines per million inhabitants resulted to be 6.72. In 51% of radiotherapy treatments, intensity-modulated techniques were performed. Six percent of treatments were administered to extra-regional patients.
Conclusion
Radiotherapy assets and equipment in Veneto seem to be appropriate to standard requests in terms of availability and technology.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
I numeri del cancro in Italia 2019 AIOM e AIRTUM 2019. https://www.registri-tumori.it/cms/pubblicazioni/i-numeri-del-cancro-italia-2019
Registro tumori Veneto. https://www.registrotumoriveneto.it/it/
Delaney G, Jacob S, Featherstone C, Barton M (2005) The role of radiotherapy in cancer treatment. Cancer 104:1129–1137
Barton MB, Jacob S, Shafiq J, Wong K, Thompson SR, Hanna TP, Delaney GP (2014) Estimating the demand for radiotherapy from the evidence: a review of changes from 2003 to 2012. Radiother Oncol 112:140–144
Atun R, Jaffray DA, Barton MB, Bray F, Baumann M, Vikram B, Hanna TP, Knaul FM, Lievens Y, Lui TY, Milosevic M, O’Sullivan B, Rodin DL, Rosenblatt E, Van Dyk J, Yap ML, Zubizarreta E, Gospodarowicz M (2015) Expanding global access to radiotherapy. Lancet Oncol 16:1153–1186
Grau C, Defourny N, Malicki J, Dunscombe P, Borras JM, Coffey M, Slotman B, Bogusz M, Gasparotto C, Lievensi Y (2014) Radiotherapy equipment and departments in the European countries: final results from the ESTRO-HERO survey. Radiother Oncol 112:155–164
Rosenblatt E, Izewska J, Anacak Y, Pynda Y, Scalliet P, Boniol M, Autier P (2013) Radiotherapy capacity in European countries: an analysis of the Directory of Radiotherapy Centres (DIRAC) database. Lancet Oncol 14(2):e79–e86
Slotman BJ, Vos PH (2013) Planning of radiotherapy capacity and productivity. Radiother Oncol 106:266–270
Atun R, Jaffray DA, Barton MB et al (2015) Expanding global access to radiotherapy. Lancet Oncol 16(10):1153–1186
Zubizarreta E, Van Dyk J, Lievens Y (2017) Analysis of global radiotherapy needs and costs by geographic region and income level. Clin Oncol 29:84–92
Chierchini S, Ingrosso G, Saldi S, Stracci F, Aristei C (2019) Physician and patient barriers to radiotherapy service access: treatment referral implications. Cancer Manag Res 11:8829–8833
Donabedian A (2005) Evaluating the quality of medical care. Milbank Q 83(4):691–729
Rapporto sulla rilevazione delle apparecchiature sanitarie in Italia 2017 Ministero della Salute. www.salute.gov.it
Nisbet A, Ward A (2001) Radiotherapy equipment—purchase or lease? Br J Radiol 74:735–744
Dunscombe P, Grau C, Defourny N, Malicki J, Borrase JM, Coffey M, Bogusz M, Gasparotto C, Slotman B, Lievens Y (2014) Guidelines for equipment and staffing of radiotherapy facilities in the European countries: final results of the ESTRO-HERO survey on behalf of the HERO consortium. Radiother Oncol 112:165–177
Rodríguez A, Algara M, Monge D, López-Torrecilla J, Caballero F, Morera F, Escó R, Pérez-Montero H, Ferrer C, Lara PC On behalf of the Spanish Society of Oncology and Radiotherapy (SEOR) Analysis Group (2018) Infrastructure and equipment for radiation oncology in the Spanish National Health System: analysis of external beam radiotherapy 2015–2020. Clin Transl Oncol 20:402–410
Palazzi MF, Soatti C, Jereczek-Fossa BA, Cazzaniga LF, Antognoni P et al (2018) Equipment, staffing, and provision of radiotherapy in Lombardy, Italy: results of three surveys performed between 2012 and 2016. Tumori 104(5):352–360
Rosenblatt E (2014) Planning national radiotherapy services. Front Oncol 4:315
Van Dyk J, Zubizarreta E, Lievens Y (2017) Cost evaluation to optimise radiation therapy implementation in different income settings: a time-driven activity-based analysis. Radiother Oncol 125:178–185
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Consortia
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical standards
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bellometti, S., Nube, G., Alongi, F. et al. Radiotherapy activities and technological equipment in Veneto, Italy: a report from the Rete Radioterapica Veneta. Radiol med 126, 623–629 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-020-01308-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-020-01308-6