Manfred Wirth1, Nicola Fossati2, Peter Albers3, Chris Bangma4, Maurizio Brausi5, Eva Comperat6, Sara Faithfull7, Silke Gillessen8, Barbara Alicja Jereczek-Fossa9, Ken Mastris10, Nicolas Mottet11, Stefan C Müller12, Bradley Pieters13, Maria J Ribal14, Vijay Sangar15, Ivo G Schoots16, Vitaly Smelov17, Luzia Travado18, Riccardo Valdagni19, Simone Wesselmann20, Thomas Wiegel21, Hendrik van Poppel22. 1. European Association of Urology (EAU), Department of Urology, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technical University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: Manfred.Wirth@uniklinikum-dresden.de. 2. European Association of Urology (EAU), Division of Oncology / Unit of Urology; IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: fossati.nicola@hsr.it. 3. European Association of Urology (EAU), Department of Urology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine University Medical Faculty, Düsseldorf, Germany. Electronic address: Peter.Albers@med.uni-duesseldorf.de. 4. European Association of Urology (EAU), Department of Urology, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: c.h.bangma@erasmusmc.nl. 5. EAU Section of Oncological Urology (ESOU)Department of Urology, B. Ramazzini Hospital, Carpi-Modena, Italy. Electronic address: m.brausi@ausl.mo.it. 6. Service d'anatomie et cytologie pathologiques, hôpital Tenon, HUEP, Sorbonne université, Paris, France. Electronic address: eva.comperat@aphp.fr. 7. European Association of Urology Nurses (EAUN), School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences, Duke of Kent Building, University of Surrey,Surrey, UK. Electronic address: s.faithfull@surrey.ac.uk. 8. European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), Manchester Cancer Research Centre, Manchester, UK. Electronic address: silke.gillessen@kssg.ch. 9. European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), Department of Oncology and Hemato-oncology, University of Milan, Division of Radiotherapy, IEO European Institute of Oncology, IRCCS, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: barbara.jereczek@ieo.it. 10. Europa Uomo (EUomo). Electronic address: ken.mastris@btinternet.com. 11. European Association of Urology (EAU), Department of Urology, University Hospital, St. Etienne, France. Electronic address: nicolas.mottet@chu-st-etienne.fr. 12. European Board of Urology (EBU), Arnhem, The Netherlands. Electronic address: stefan.mueller@ukb.uni-bonn.de. 13. European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), Amsterdam University Medical Centers / University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: b.r.pieters@amc.uva.nl. 14. European Urological Scholarship Programme (EUSP), Uro-Oncology Unit. Hospital Clínic. University of Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: mjribal@clinic.cat. 15. European Association of Urology (EAU), The Christie NHS Foundation Trust & Manchester University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK. Electronic address: vpsangar@gmail.com. 16. European Society of Uro Radiology (ESUR), Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: i.schoots@erasmusmc.nl. 17. Prevention and Implementation Group, Section of Early Detection and Prevention, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), World Health Organization (WHO). Electronic address: smelovV@iarc.fr. 18. International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS), Psycho-oncology, Champalimaud Clinical and Research Center, Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal. Electronic address: luzia.travado@fundacaochampalimaud.pt. 19. European School of Oncology (ESO), University of Milan, Department of Oncology and Hemato-oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Prostate Cancer Program, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Radiation Oncology, Milano, Italy. Electronic address: Riccardo.Valdagni@istitutotumori.mi.it. 20. German Cancer Society (DKG), Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: wesselmann@krebsgesellschaft.de. 21. European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) Milan, Italy. Electronic address: Thomas.Wiegel@uniklinik-ulm.de. 22. European Association of Urology (EAU), Dept Urology, University Hospital KU Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: hendrik.vanpoppel@uzleuven.be.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: High-quality management of prostate cancer is needed in the fields of clinics, research, and education. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this project was to develop the concept of "European Prostate Cancer Centres of Excellence" (EPCCE), with the specific aim of identifying European centres characterised by high-quality cancer care, research, and education. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A task force of experts aimed at identifying the general criteria to define the EPCCE. Discussion took place in conference calls and by e-mail from March 2017 to November 2017, and the final consensus meeting named "European Association of Urology (EAU) Prostate Cancer Centre Consensus Meeting" was held in Barcelona on November 16, 2017. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The required criteria were grouped into three main steps: (1) clinics, (2) research, and (3) education. A quality control approach for the three steps was defined. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: The definition of EPCCE consisted of the following steps: (1) clinical step-five items were identified and classified as core team, associated services, multidisciplinary approach, diagnostic pathway, and therapeutic pathway; (2) research step-internal monitoring of outcomes was required; clinical data had to be collected through a prespecified database, clinical outcomes had to be periodically assessed, and prospective trials had to be conducted; (3) educational step-it consists of structured fellowship programmes of 1yr, including 6mo of research and 6mo of clinics; and (4) quality assurance and quality control procedures, related to the quality assessment of the previous three steps. A limitation of this project was that the definition of standards and items was mainly based on a consensus among experts rather than being an evidence-based process. CONCLUSIONS: The EAU Prostate Cancer Centre Consensus Meeting defined the criteria for the identification of the EPCCE in the fields of clinics, research, and education. The inclusion of a quality control approach represents the novelty that supports the excellence of these centres. PATIENT SUMMARY: A task force of experts defined the criteria for the identification of European Prostate Cancer Centres of Excellence, in order to certify the high-quality centres for prostate cancer management.
BACKGROUND: High-quality management of prostate cancer is needed in the fields of clinics, research, and education. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this project was to develop the concept of "European Prostate Cancer Centres of Excellence" (EPCCE), with the specific aim of identifying European centres characterised by high-quality cancer care, research, and education. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A task force of experts aimed at identifying the general criteria to define the EPCCE. Discussion took place in conference calls and by e-mail from March 2017 to November 2017, and the final consensus meeting named "European Association of Urology (EAU) Prostate Cancer Centre Consensus Meeting" was held in Barcelona on November 16, 2017. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The required criteria were grouped into three main steps: (1) clinics, (2) research, and (3) education. A quality control approach for the three steps was defined. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: The definition of EPCCE consisted of the following steps: (1) clinical step-five items were identified and classified as core team, associated services, multidisciplinary approach, diagnostic pathway, and therapeutic pathway; (2) research step-internal monitoring of outcomes was required; clinical data had to be collected through a prespecified database, clinical outcomes had to be periodically assessed, and prospective trials had to be conducted; (3) educational step-it consists of structured fellowship programmes of 1yr, including 6mo of research and 6mo of clinics; and (4) quality assurance and quality control procedures, related to the quality assessment of the previous three steps. A limitation of this project was that the definition of standards and items was mainly based on a consensus among experts rather than being an evidence-based process. CONCLUSIONS: The EAU Prostate Cancer Centre Consensus Meeting defined the criteria for the identification of the EPCCE in the fields of clinics, research, and education. The inclusion of a quality control approach represents the novelty that supports the excellence of these centres. PATIENT SUMMARY: A task force of experts defined the criteria for the identification of European Prostate Cancer Centres of Excellence, in order to certify the high-quality centres for prostate cancer management.