OBJECTIVES:

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men with an estimated 1.1 million of newly diagnosed patients and 307,000 deaths in 2012. Prostate cancer treatment requires the involvement of multiple specialties including, oncologists, radiotherapists, surgeons, urologists. The role of these specialists in the management of this cancer can vary and it is not well documented. This study identifies the involvement of different specialties in the overall care management and drug treatment of prostate cancer in France and Italy.

METHODS:

A cross-sectional doctor survey was conducted in December 2017 among a large panel of ~4,500 specialists across France (n=891), Germany (n=639), Italy (n=899), Spain (n=907), UK (n=761), and Mexico (n=518). Each country panel was stratified by specialty, using various doctor workforce universe statistics including All Global, PBRIG, Binleys 2016 and IQVIA’s proprietary database. The survey included questions around the involvement of specialists in decisions such as diagnosis, cancer treatment and referrals. Only France (FR) and Italy (IT) were included in this analysis.

RESULTS:

Of the surveyed panel, over 80% urologists (95%FR, 80%IT) reported to manage prostate cancer compared to 75% for radiotherapists (77%FR, 88%IT). A higher proportion of radiotherapists’ monthly patient caseload was prostate cancer (21%FR, 28%IT) compared to urologists (19%FR, 17%IT) & oncologists (11%FR, 14%IT). The proportion of drug treated prostate cancer patients managed by radiotherapists in a typical month was 14%-17%. This percentage was higher than urologists (10-11%) and oncologists (9-10%).

CONCLUSIONS:

Whilst oncologists and urologists have a well-known and established role in the management and drug treatment of prostate cancer patients, the role of radiotherapists as key treaters of this cancer was interestingly demonstrated through this study. Further analyses will identify the full extent of involvement of different specialties in prostate cancer management