EUnetHTA project plan for Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) for lung, prostate and liver cancer

In July 2020, the network of European HTA agencies, EUnetHTA, announced a final project plan of the project OTCA25 “Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) for lung, prostate, and liver cancer.”

This project is being executed by the Agency for Health Quality Assessment of Catalonia (AQuAS) in Spain and the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariff System (AOTMIT) in Poland. The dedicated reviewers are Swiss Network for Health Technology Assessment (SNHTA), Italian Azienda Zero from Veneto Region, and Spanish Health Institute Carlos III (ISCIII).

The rationale of this assessment is to collaboratively produce structured (rapid) core HTA information on other technologies. The purpose is to apply those collaboratively produced assessments in the national or regional context.

This rapid assessment addresses the research question: to compare the effectiveness, safety of SBRT, and standard of care therapies in lung, prostate, and liver cancer.

This topic was chosen based on a request from the Spanish Commission on Benefits, Entitlement, and Financing (CPAF) who commissioned AQuAS to do an HTA on SBRT in lung, prostate, and liver cancer.

The relevance of the topic lies in the fact that there are uncertainties, controversies, and lack of consensus on the additional value of SBRT, as it can be considered to be expensive technology. Moreover, the number of linear accelerators available in Spain with SBRT has tripled in the last three years, making the technology more available.

The HTA Core Mode Applications for Rapid Relative Effectiveness Assessment Version 4.2. will be the primary source for selecting assessment elements.

For Effectiveness (EFF) and Safety (SAF) domains, a systematic literature search will be performed using the bibliographic databases: Cochrane Library (Wiley), Medline (PubMed), Embase (Ovid). A specific search for ongoing clinical trials will be conducted at Clinicaltrials.gov, Cochrane Central EU clinical trials, and International ClinicalTrials Registry Platform (ICTRP). In addition to the electronic search, a manual revision of the bibliographic references cited in the selected papers, as well as a general internet search for scientific journal articles and a revision of sources and guidelines recommended by the external experts, will be performed. The following publication types will be excluded: case reports, letters, congress abstracts, or editorials.

The final version of this rapid assessment is expected to be published in November 2020.

The full details in English can be found here.

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