The relevance of the Spanish society for medical oncology (SEOM)’s clinical oncology guidelines

Abstract

In this issue of Clinical and Translational Oncology, the Spanish Society for Medical Oncology (SEOM) publishes a group of the Clinical Guidelines that are the result of an ambitious educational programme. The main objective of this programme was to periodically create and actualise a set of clinical guidelines mainly focused on the medical treatment for the majority of solid tumours and cancerrelated or therapy-related symptoms. Clinical guidelines have increasingly become a common part of clinical practice during the past decade. They are defi ned by the Institute of Medicine as “systematically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate health care for specifi c clinical circumstances” [1]. Appropriate care involves assessing the balance between the sum of the benefi ts and the sum of the risks [2]. There are several factors that have stimulated increased interest in the development of clinical guidelines. Among the most relevant reasons are the exponential increment of medical publications, rising healthcare costs, the use of more expensive technologies, variations in service delivery among providers even within the same city or geographic region and the aspiration of healthcare physicians to offer the best possible care to their cancer patients. In this scenario, clinical guidelines are considered as a tool for giving the patients the best care based on the most consistent scientifi c evidence. Therapy based on guidelines has been shown to lead to better clinical outcomes compared with locally adapted therapeutic strategies and this would also lead to improved quality of care for the patients. Several objectives can be assigned to clinical guidelines. The main aim is usually to improve the quality of the medical care. However, other important objectives to consider are to facilitate the decision-making process for the treating physician, to promote effi cient use of the health system resources and to set the basis for performing an evaluation of the quality of medical care. Clinical guidelines’ highest quality probably lies in the methodology for constructing them based on the comprehensive review of the literature and the most convincing evidence-based medicine available. Nowadays, there are many clinical guidelines in oncology, produced by different institutions, governments, scientifi c societies and cooperative groups. So why has SEOM launched a new group of clinical guidelines? This initiative is the result of the intent to adapt the best evidence-based knowledge in medical oncology to the specifi c scenario of the Spanish health care system and to actively cooperate with the health authorities in the homogenisation of medical oncology care among the different communities in Spain. For this purpose, the board of SEOM created a working group in 2008 with the aim of coordinating this project. The clinical guidelines working group established the methodology and the basis for building each guideline. They defi ned some common characteristics for each guideline with special emphasis on being clear and concise but complete at the same time, and the use of tables or algorithms for facilitating comprehension. It should be highlighted that the recommendations made by the clinical guidelines should be in accordance with the approvals obtained by the different therapies in Spain at the moment of writing the guideline. Regarding the authors, a fi rst panel of experts was nominated in order to write the fi rst draft of the guideline. Then, a second panel of experts also nomiD. Isla Casado SEOM Clinical Guidelines Coordinator Servicio de Oncologia Medica Hospital Clinico Universitario Lozano Blesa Zaragoza, Spain