Actualización de las indicaciones del uso de la radioterapia de intensidad modulada en el Instituto Nacional de Cancerología. Protocolo clínico informado en la evidencia

Background: Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) is an advanced technique which has been put into service in several clinical settings around the world; however, its proper use in Colombia requires to be revisited. Aim: To update an evidence-based clinical care protocol (CCP) that contains clinical recommendations for using IMRT in order to treat the most common oncological malignancies seen in the Radiotherapy Unit of the Instituto Nacional de Cancerologia – Colombia. Methods: The elaboration of this CCP was undertaken by a multidisciplinary team who abided by a domestic CCP-development handbook. Briefly, a systematic search of literature was conducted; afterwards, relevant papers were selected and evaluated using appropriate appraisal tools; finally, evidence was summarized, contextualized, and used for generating the recommendations through a formal consensus approach (RAND/UCLA). Results: We established a handful of recommendations for using the IMRT technique in patients with any of the following types of cancer: prostate & penis, head & neck, skin, central nervous system, breast, soft tissue sarcoma, lung, gastrointestinal, and gynecologic, as well as oncologic emergencies. Conclusions: During the period 2014 - 2017, few evidence has emerged about the impact of IMRT on outcomes related to survival and quality of life; therefore, IMRT use still remains in selected patients.