A prospective study of the use of chemotherapy in Sweden and assessment of the use in relation to scientific evidence

A prospective study on total utilisation of cytotoxic drugs for selected cancers was carried out in two Swedish health service regions, during four weeks in the autumn of 1997. The study included 1 590 patients; 1 169 with solid tumours and 421 with haematological malignancies. The majority of patients (75% to 80%) were treated at university/regional hospitals, often at oncology or haematology departments, and most reserved treatment as outpatients. Furthermore, most were treated according to recommendations in regional or national clinical guidelines, so-called care programmes, although the percentage varied by diagnosis. Only 10% were participants in a clinical trial. In approximately 40% of the patients, treatment was aimed at cure. However. this percentage varied between 0% and 94% depending on tumour type. At the population level, a comparison of the scientific evidence according to a literature review (Acta Oncol, this issue) with the survey showed that treatment with cytotoxic drugs in Sweden was largely evidence-based. A high percentage of patients received cytotoxic drugs for diseases where recommendations to treat were strong, i.e. outcomes were well-documented in the literature. A low percentage of patients received chemotherapy in disease settings with little or no scientific documentation. The percentage of patients treated was also limited in cases where the effects of chemotherapy are relatively small, although scientifically well-documented. For methodological reasons, one cannot exclude the possibility that cytotoxic drugs may be overutilised at the individual level for palliative purposes. e.g. by not discontinuing treatment despite the absence of clinical benefits. Likewise, one cannot exclude the possibility of underutilisation, e.g, by patients declining treatment because they were not informed about the potential benefits.