Rationalising bone scan usage in prostate cancer staging – A UK nationwide audit of the BAUS Radical Prostatectomy (RP) database

Objective: With new evidence showing no need to perform staging bone scans (BS) in intermediate-risk prostate cancer (PC), we reviewed the practice and trends of performing BS in PC patients across the United Kingdom by analysing a cohort of PC patients from the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) radical prostatectomy (RP) database. We analysed the database as such for data entry and regional trends. Materials and methods: Between 2007 and 2016, patients who had BS were categorised according to D’Amico risk categories as low (LR), intermediate (IR) and high (HR). The IR group was subdivided into primary patterns 3 (IR3) and 4 (IR4). Subgroup analysis based on prostate-specific antigen and Gleason score was performed. Regional trends regarding data entry and no staging scans before RP were also analysed. Results: Over the study period, the database included 39,382 patients. The quality of data improved from 2011. A consistent drop in proportion of LR patients who had BS was noted over the study period which stood at less than 1% in 2016. This parallels an increase in proportion of HR patients, but the IR3 and IR4 proportion remained stable throughout the study. A large proportion of HR patients were deemed HR because of clinical T stage in the subgroup analysis. A progressive drop is noted in patients having no scan before RP, which stood at 3.66% in 2016. Out of 15 regions, 13 showed improvement in data completeness. Conclusion: In the United Kingdom, good adherence with guidelines to avoid BS in LR patients is noted but is still continued in IR. Updating the guidelines which are still not uniform and involvement of specialist multidisciplinary teams to reflect these would help reduce a considerable number of unnecessary BS being performed. Regional trends shown would help relevant centres to review their data entry process and potentially improve them. Level of evidence: not applicable for this multicentre audit.