Asian Gynecological Brachytherapy Registry in Cervical Cancer

Overview

Gynecological cancer poses as significant public health issue, especially in Asian countries, where it is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women. Cervical cancer accounts for around 311,000 deaths annually, with over 85% occurring in low- and middle-income nations, primarily in Asia. Factors contributing to this burden include limited access to preventive care, inadequate screening, high rates of human papillomavirus infection, and cultural barriers that delay medical attention. For patients with advanced cervical cancer, the standard treatment involves external beam radiation therapy along with chemotherapy followed by internal radiation, known as Brachytherapy. This technique uses unique set of devices placed internally at the tumor sitegiving localized radiation to the residual tumor tissue. While advanced brachytherapy techniques have been developed and practiced in Europe and American countries yielding excellent clinical outcomes, there is insufficient data on the use and results of such advanced brachytherapy techniques in Asian populations, leading to a lack of standardized practices. To address these issues, the Asian Gynecological Brachytherapy Registry (ABGR) has been established as a collaborative platform for data collection and analysis on the use of Brachytherapy techniques. This registry aims to consolidate information from various healthcare settings across Asia, enhancing understanding of cervical cancer's epidemiology, evaluating treatment effectiveness, and identifying areas for improvement in patient care.

The registry will follow a retrospective cohort study design by including consecutive patients treated in participating institutions over a 12-month period. It encompasses patients receiving various levels of brachytherapy, including 2D to 3D modalities, and considers different imaging techniques for treatment planning. Contouring variability and patient demographics are also accounted to ensure a comprehensive understanding of real-world application. With a target enrolment of 1,000 patients across multiple centres in FARO member countries, the AGBR aims to capture diverse patient environments and institutional practices. Through this collaborative effort, it seeks to report on different brachytherapy utilization patterns, clinical outcomes, and factors influencing treatment decisions and disparities. Additionally, information related to external radiation, administration of concurrent chemotherapy and overall treatment time will also be captured. Taken together these 3 components and timely administration of treatment constitute pillars of successful and effective treatment for cervix cancer. Administratively, data handling and storage protocols built in protocol will safeguard patient privacy and data integrity. Monitoring and quality assurance processes ensure data completeness and accuracy, while a publication policy promotes transparent dissemination of research findings, prioritizing multi-institutional collaborations and publishing in this domain from Asia.In conclusion, the AGBR once completed will represent a collaborative effort to address the variations in cervical cancer treatment in Asia and provide baseline data for future prospective work.