Care practice is becoming ore and more complicated due to many different factors.  One of the most relevant factors is the exponential increase of scientific information.

To make clinical decisions that are adequate, safe and effective, practitioners need to devote a lot of effort in continously updating their knowledge.

In 2003, the Interterritorial Council of the Spanish NHS created the GuiaSalud Project whose final aim is to improve clinical decision-making based on scientific evidence, via training activities and the configuration of a registry of Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG).  Since then, the GuiaSalud project has assessed dozens of CPGs in agreement with explicit criteria stipulated by its scientific committee.  It has registered them and has disseminated them over the Internet.

At the beginning of 2006, the D.G. of the Quality Agency of the National Health System prepared the Quality Plan for the National Health System, which was divided into in 12 strategies.

The purpose of this Plan is to increase the cohesion of the National Health System and help guarantee maximum quality health care for all citizens regardless of their place of residence.

As part of the Plan, different agencies and expert groups in prevalent pathologies related to health strategies were entrusted with the preparation of eight CPGs.  This prostate cancer treatment guideline is the fruit of this assignment.

The definition of a common methodology to prepare the guides for the NHS was also requested and this has been prepared as a collective effort of consensus and coordination among the Spanish CPG expert groups. This methodology was used as the basis to prepare this prostate cancer treatment guide.

In 2007, the project prepared CPGs in depth and included other Evidence-Based Medicine services and products.  It also aims to favour the implementation and assessment of the use of CPGs in the National Health System.

Prostate cancer is one of the main health problems affecting the male population.  It is highly prevalent and is one of the leading causes of death of men in Spain as well as affecting the patients’ quality of life.

The choice of the most appropriate thereapetic option in men with prostate cancer is complex due to different factors.  The patient’s clinical situation must be considered, but it is also very important to consider the adverse effect profiles of the different therapeutic alternatives that sometimes represent a great impact on the quality of life of the person concerned.

The existing variability in the treatment of prostate cancer that currently exists has meant that this “Clinical Practice Guideline for Prostate Cancer Treatment” is essential to provide practitioners with recommendations based on scientific evidence to address the management of this process, offering therapeutic alternatives that adapt to each clinical situation.

This guideline is the result of the work of a group of professionals linked to different fields and disciplines of health care and who represent the healthcare continuity with all it variants, for men with prostate adenocarcinoma.  The scientific societies directly involved in this health problem have collaborated in this guideline.

Answers to many of the questions raised when caring for patients with prostate cancer will be found in this guideline.  These questions are given in the form of systematic recommendations and with the best available scientific evidence. 

We hope that this will lead to a more homogeneous and higher quality health care for these patients and their families.

PABLO RIVERO CORTE
DG, NHS Quality Agency