Spine Metastasis Practice Patterns among Korean, Chinese, and Japanese Radiation Oncologists: A Multinational Online Survey Study

This online survey of practising radiation oncologists from Korea, China and Japan was conducted to investigate the current practices in radiotherapy (RT) for spine metastasis and to compare these practices across the three countries. The questionnaire included nine general information questions and two clinical scenarios (representing ‘typical’ and ‘good’ prognosis spine metastasis), with seven questions for each scenario. An anonymous web-based survey using Google Docs® was undertaken from 2 September 2014 to 9 April 2015. A total of 54 Korean, 107 Chinese and 104 Japanese radiation oncologists participated in the study. The first scenario involved a typical case of spine metastasis (~25% expected 1-year survival rate), and the preferred fractionation scheme was 10 fractions of 3 Gy, though the pattern was slightly different in each country. The second scenario involved a good prognosis case (>50% expected 1-year survival rate), and 10 fractions of 3 Gy was the preferred practice in all three countries (however, use of a larger fraction dose with a smaller fraction number was more common in Korea). A more conformal RT technique was more prominent in China and Korea, especially for patients with a good prognosis. Avoidance of reirradiation was notable in China. In summary, a preference for multiple fractionation in RT for spine metastasis was observed in the majority of Korean, Chinese and Japanese radiation oncologists, although there were slight differences in practice preferences, especially for patients with a favorable prognosis.