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Abstract: A French decree of February 3rd 2005, allowed the Iodin 125 seeds from several companies to be reimbursed after a permanent implantation brachytherapy for a prostate cancer. Within this frame, the French "Comité économique des produits de santé" (CEPS; Economic committee for health products) made mandatory the annual writing and publication of a follow-up study with three main aims; make sure that the seeds were used for prostate cancer patients with criterias corresponding to the national recommendations, analyze the quality of the dosimetric data, and report all side effects, complications and possible accidents. We therefore report here a clinical and dosimetric analysis of 469 patient cases treated in France in nine centers in 2005 with the Iodin 125 IsoSeed Bebig. This analysis shows that: 1) The national recommendations for selecting patients for exclusive prostate brachytherapy have been taken into account in 97% of the cases; 2) The dosimetric quality criterias totally fulfilled the recommendations in a large majority of cases; the intra-operative D90 was found to be superior to 145 Gy in 98% of the patients, and the intra-operative V100 was superior to 95% in 96% of the cases; 3) The early toxicity (mainly urinary) was found to be at the lower range of what is reported in the literature, with in particular a retention rate of 2.4%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose Of the Study: This pilot study was designed to evaluate the impact of management by the Interdisciplinary Supportive Care Department for Cancer Patients (Département Interdisciplinaire de Soins de Support pour le Patient en Oncologie-DISSPO) at the Institut Curie in Paris, France on patient quality of life and satisfaction with care.Materials and Methods: Patients hospitalised for cancer treatment and referred to DISSPO during their hospitalisation were invited to complete the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer core quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30) and patient satisfaction (EORTC IN-PATSAT32) questionnaires during the week following their initial management by DISSPO (T0) and 2 months later (T1). These patients were compared with control patients matched for age, gender, ward and period of hospitalisation in terms of quality of life and satisfaction with care.Main Results: One hundred fourteen (77%) DISSPO patients at T0 and 72 (48%) patients at T1 and 102 (89%) control patients at T0 and 66 (57%) at T1 returned their completed questionnaires. Baseline characteristics of DISSPO patients and control patients were significantly different in terms of duration of the current hospitalisation, interval between the date of diagnosis of the cancer and inclusion in the study (both longer for DISSPO patients) and Karnofsky performance status (lower for DISSPO patients). For the 43 pairs of patients who completed the questionnaires at the two time points, significant independent positive effects of management by DISSPO and age (less than or equal to 60 years) were demonstrated for patient satisfaction in relation to the availability of the nursing and paramedical team. In particular, patients over the age of 60 not managed by DISSPO presented a significant reduction of patient satisfaction scores over the 2 months compared to age-matched patients managed by DISSPO.Conclusions: Management of cancer patients by an interdisciplinary supportive care department appears to have a positive impact on patient satisfaction in relation to availability of the nursing and paramedical team. These results need to be confirmed in a larger study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]