ArticleClinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico2026
The landscape of definitive radiotherapy discontinuation: a 5-year institutional audit and clinical profiling.
Article in Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeDefinitive radiotherapy discontinuation is a critical key performance indicator (KPI) in oncological care. This study aimed to determine the frequency of definitive radiotherapy discontinuation and to characterise the clinical profile of a cohort treated between 2020 and 2024. MATERIALS AND
methodsWe conducted a retrospective descriptive study of 16,292 fractionated radiotherapy courses initiated between January 2020 and December 2024. Definitive discontinuation was defined as the cessation of treatment before completing the planned dose for any reason. We analysed demographic, clinical, and dosimetric variables, and classified the reasons for discontinuation into predefined categories. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics to characterise the discontinuation cohort.
resultsA total of 279 definitive discontinuations (1.71%) were recorded. The mean age was 66.0 ± 13.9 years (60.2% male). The discontinuation rate was significantly higher for palliative than for curative courses (3.49% vs. 1.08%). Causes of discontinuation differed significantly by intent: death from oncological causes predominated in the palliative group (49.0%), whereas non-oncological complications were the leading cause in the curative cohort (33.1%, p < 0.001). Treatment persistence analysis revealed that palliative courses were interrupted significantly earlier in their planned schedule (median completion 50.0%) compared to curative courses (64.3%, p = 0.012). A compromised performance status (KPS < 70) was present in 29.7% of courses. COVID-19 caused only eight direct discontinuations (2.8%). The 2020 temporal peak (2.45%) was driven almost exclusively by the palliative cohort (5.24%), while curative discontinuation rates remained stable (~ 1.0%). The discontinued cohort was clinically characterised by advanced age, compromised performance status, metastatic disease, palliative treatment intent, and treatment initiation delays.
conclusionThe definitive discontinuation rate was low compared with previously reported series. Oncological factors were the predominant causes, especially in palliative treatments. Differentiating between unavoidable events (e.g. rapid oncological deterioration) and potentially avoidable ones (e.g. toxicity or patient decision) transforms this metric into a practical quality indicator. Although direct COVID-19 discontinuations were minimal, the pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of palliative pathways during systemic crises. When appropriately stratified and interpreted, this indicator may provide a framework for inter-institutional comparison and benchmarking, supporting targeted quality improvement strategies such as optimisation of patient selection, increased use of hypofractionated regimens in limited-prognosis patients, and enhanced supportive care for high risk and vulnerable subgroups.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42622780What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.