The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has joined the Choosing Wisely campaign, contributing five radiation therapy procedures to the growing list of commonly ordered but not always necessary medical procedures.
Launched in 2011, Choosing Wisely is a campaign by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation to draw attention to potentially unnecessary medical exams that are contributing to waste in the healthcare system. Each medical specialty that joins the campaign releases a list of five tests in its area of practice that should be discussed before being ordered.
The five radiation therapy procedures contributed by ASTRO are as follows:
- Don't start whole-breast radiotherapy as a part of breast conservation therapy in women ages 50 and older with early-stage invasive breast cancer without first examining shorter treatment schedules.
- Don't start management of low-risk prostate cancer without discussing active surveillance.
- Don't use extended fractionation schemes (more than 10 fractions) routinely for bone metastases palliation.
- Don't routinely recommend proton beam therapy for prostate cancer outside of a prospective clinical trial or registry.
- Don't routinely use intensity-modulated radiation therapy to deliver whole-breast radiotherapy as part of breast conservation therapy.
More information on the recommendations is available by clicking here.
