1. Pan-Canadian consensus recommendations for proton beam therapy access in Canada.
- Author
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Mitera, Gunita, Tsang, Derek, McCurdy, Boyd, Goddard, Karen, Ebacher, Annie, Craig, Tim, Greenland, Jonathan, Kentish, Staci, Koul, Rashmi, Logie, Natalie, Morneau, Mélanie, Morrison, Andra, Pan, Larry, Pantarotto, Jason, Foxcroft, Sophie, Sussman, Jonathan, Thompson, Robert, Tyldesley, Scott, Wright, Philip, and Hicks, Sarah
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PROTON therapy , *COMMUNITIES , *BUDGET - Abstract
• The first pan-Canadian recommendations created to support equitable and timely access to quality proton therapy. • Input from experts across Canada, external peer-review, and community consultation included. • 27 consensus recommendations developed for patient eligibility, program and system levels. Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) is a treatment option for select cancer patients. It is currently not available in Canada. Assessment and referral processes for out-of-country treatment for eligible patients vary by jurisdiction, leading to variability in access to this treatment for Canadian cancer patients. The purpose of this initiative was to develop a framework document to inform consistent and equitable PBT access for appropriate patients through the creation of pan-Canadian PBT access consensus recommendations. A modified Delphi process was used to develop pan-Canadian recommendations with input from 22 PBT clinical and administrative experts across all provinces, external peer-review by provincial cancer and system partners, and feedback from a targeted community consultation. This was conducted by electronic survey and live discussion. Consensus threshold was set at 70% agreement. Four consensus rounds resulted in a final set of 27 recommendations divided into three categories: patient eligibility (n = 9); program level (n = 10); and system level (n = 8). Patient eligibility included: anatomic site (n = 4), patient characteristics (n = 3), clinical efficacy (n = 2). Program level included: regulatory and staff requirements (n = 5), equipment and technologies (n = 4), quality assurance (n = 1). System level included: referral process (n = 5), costing, budget impact and quality adjusted life years (n = 2), eligible patient estimates (n = 1). Recommendations were released nationally in June 2021 and distributed to all 43 cancer programs in Canada. A pan-Canadian consensus-building approach was successful in creating an evidence-based, peer-reviewed suite of recommendations that support application of consistent clinical criteria to inform treatment options, facility set-up and access to high quality proton therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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