J López Torrecilla

Publications (3)2.65 Total impact

• Article: Brachytherapy in the United Kingdom and Spain: a subset analysis of a European pattern of care survey.

  Ferran Guedea, Peter Hoskin, Jean Jacques Mazeron, Montse Ventura, Bradley Londres, Pedro Bilbao, José López Torrecilla
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  ABSTRACT: The aim of this pattern of care survey was to provide an overview of brachytherapy resources and practices in the United Kingdom (UK) and Spain and to identify differences that may be relevant to health-care delivery and planning. Both countries formed part of a larger survey of European radiation oncology centres carried out in 2002. The present study includes only data from centres that perform brachytherapy and completed the questionnaire. Between 1997 and 2002, the number of hospitals offering brachytherapy increased by 10.2% in the UK and 21.4% in Spain. The mean number of radiotherapy patients per centre was significantly higher in the UK (2811 patients) than in Spain (1203). Gynaecological tumours accounted for most procedures (59.7% in Spain and 60.8% in the UK), followed by prostate cancer in the UK (16.7%) and breast cancer in Spain (15.5%). Significantly more procedures for breast cancer were performed in Spain (19.7 patients/centre) than in the UK (0.4 patients/centre). A significantly higher percentage of radiation oncologists in Spain performed brachytherapy, dedicating more time to brachytherapy-related work (22.2 h/week) than their colleagues in the UK (6.7 h/week). Brachytherapy resources and patterns of care are similar in both countries, although several notable differences exist. Radiation oncologists in Spain dedicate significantly more time to brachytherapy. Compared to the UK, brachytherapy is used more frequently in Spain as a boost in breast cancer treatments. Both countries perform more brachytherapy procedures for prostate cancer than the European average.
  Clinical and Translational Oncology 09/2009; 11(8):534-8. · 1.33 Impact Factor
• Article: Patterns of care for brachytherapy in Europe. Results in Spain.

  J López Torrecilla, F Guedea, G Heeren, R Nissin, T Ellison, B Cottier
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  ABSTRACT: In 2003 ESTRO began a project whose primary objective, was to make a map in the European area of infrastructures in technology and personnel for brachytherapy. A survey and a web site were elaborated. The survey was sent to the 76 Spanish Radiation Oncology departments in May 2003. By the end of 2003, 66 (86.8%) services had responded, 40 (71.4%) of which had brachytherapy. The services with brachytherapy treated 73.5% of the total patients, an average of 1,199 patients. The mean number of patients treated with brachytherapy by department was 135.5 and the number of applications was 265 annually. The average number of specialists was 7, 4 of them trained in brachytherapy. The average weekly work load of the radiation oncologists, physicists, and technicians was 22.6 h, 13.8 h and 21.0 h, respectively. The mean time dedicated to each patient by radiation oncologists, physicists and technicians was 9.2 h; 6.19 h; 7.2 h, respectively. The total number of afterloaders was 43 (22 HDR, 18 LDR, 3 PDR). The tumours most frequently treated with brachytherapy were gynaecological (56.24%), breast (14.2%) and prostate (11.7%). High dose rate was used in 47.46% of the patients and low dose rate in 47.24%. Between 1997 and 2002 there was an increase of 50.53% in patients treated with brachytherapy. The survey shows the brachytherapy resources and activity in Spain up to 2003. Increased use of brachytherapy in prostate tumours, prevalence of gynaecology brachytherapy and similar number of treatments with HDR and LDR are demonstrated in the Patterns of Care of Brachytherapy in Europe (PCBE) study in Spain.
  Clinical and Translational Oncology 06/2006; 8(5):362-8. · 1.33 Impact Factor
• Article: [Pre-operative radiotherapy, conventional or accelerated, for invasive bladder cancer. Objectives and radiation modalities. Results and complications].

  J López Torrecilla, A Tormo, E García-Miragall, I Rodríguez, E Solsona, I Petschen
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  ABSTRACT: To present the experience of La Fe Hospital and the Institute of Oncology of Valencia with preoperative radiotherapy for bladder cancer and review the literature. The principles of radiotherapy are discussed and the most important series reported in the English literature (Memorial Sloan Kettering, M.D. Anderson, London Institute of Urology and Rotterdam Radiotherapy Institute) and the largest published Spanish series (Ramón y Cajal Hospital) are reviewed. Furthermore, the results achieved in 123 patients treated between 1982 and 1989 at the Urology and Radiotherapeutic Oncology services of La Fe Hospital and the IVO experience with accelerated radiotherapy (20 Gy in 5 fractions) immediately followed by radical cystectomy are presented. The five-year survival ranged from 39% to 66%. Distant metastasis, which occurred in more than 50% of the patients, was the most common cause of failure. Comparison of the complication rates of the different series is difficult to perform. The operative mortality ranged from 2.4% to 10% and was 8% in our series. Preoperative radiotherapy does not appear to increase the number of postoperative complications. By multivariate analysis, lymph node involvement was the only significant factor that influenced survival in our series. It cannot be concluded from the analysis of the prospective and randomized studies that preoperative radiotherapy improves survival in patients with invasive bladder cancer. However, some authors have reported that patients with T3b tumor might benefit from this therapeutic modality.
  Archivos españoles de urología 52(6):586-94.