In February, 2018, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) has commissioned an assessment of the interstitial low-dose rate (LDR) brachytherapy in localized prostate cancer to the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) in order to search, analyze and evaluate the current knowledge on this technology.
The following aspects should be considered for the assessment:
- Target population: patients in localized prostate cancer (stages for both local and systemic cancer were included);
- Specification of the method (intervention): treatment with an interstitial low-dose rate (LDR) brachytherapy;
- Comparative treatments: standard surgical intervention (radical prostatectomy), percutaneous radiotherapy, observational strategies (e.g., active surveillance, watchful waiting);
- Outcomes (especially patient-relevant outcomes), including mortality, morbidity, quality of life, side effects and complications.
If the relevant economic studies are identified, the information will be sent to G-BA for further evaluation.
The results should be delivered to the G-BA until September, 2018.
See full details in German here.
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