Improving radiotherapy quality of care: Examining practice patterns in regional centers.

53Background: Radiotherapy (RT) is a resource intensive cancer treatment. Benefits may take weeks to realize, whereas side effects are more immediate. RT is commonly delivered with palliative intent often near the end of life (EOL). In patients with limited life expectancy, single fractions (sf) may substitute for multi-fraction (mf) treatments. Objectives were to document RT courses delivered to patients with cancer at EOL, with the goal of informing treatment practices, developing a clinical decision-making tool and reducing potentially futile treatment and side effects for patients. Methods: Cancer Registry data was examined with ethics approval. Patient and prospective treatment data were collected and analyzed to determine the number of RT courses starting within 90 days of death (EOL) among those with cancer diagnoses who died between January 1, 2016, and July 31, 2017. Data was stratified by demographics, disease factors, RT center and prescription factors. Results are reported in aggregate and exp...