Publication

The European Prostate Cancer Centres of Excellence: A Novel Proposal from the European Association of Urology Prostate Cancer Centre Consensus Meeting

Journal Paper/Review - Feb 22, 2019

Units
PubMed
Doi

Citation
Wirth M, Pieters B, Ribal M, Sangar V, Schoots I, Smelov V, Travado L, Valdagni R, Wesselmann S, Wiegel T, Müller S, Mottet N, Fossati N, Albers P, Bangma C, Brausi M, Compérat E, Faithfull S, Gillessen Sommer S, Jereczek-Fossa B, Mastris K, Van Poppel H. The European Prostate Cancer Centres of Excellence: A Novel Proposal from the European Association of Urology Prostate Cancer Centre Consensus Meeting. Eur Urol 2019; 76:179-186.
Type
Journal Paper/Review (English)
Journal
Eur Urol 2019; 76
Publication Date
Feb 22, 2019
Issn Electronic
1873-7560
Pages
179-186
Brief description/objective

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.