Patient autonomy and shared decision-making in the context of clinical trial participation.

Aims: This study aimed to explore how incorporating shared decision-making (SDM) can address recruitment challenges in clinical trials. Specifically, it examines how SDM can align the trial process with patient preferences, enhance patient autonomy and increase active patient participation. Additionally, it identifies potential conflicts between SDM and certain clinical trial aspects, such as randomization or blinding, and proposes solutions to mitigate these issues.

Patterns of care for relapsed oesophageal cancer after initial curative trimodality therapy: Long-term follow-up of the SAKK 75/08 trial.

Background: Recurrent oesophageal cancer after the initial curative multimodality treatment is a disease condition with a poor prognosis. There is limited evidence on recurrence patterns and on the optimal therapeutic approach.

Methods: We analysed the pattern of disease recurrence and subsequent therapies in patients with recurrent oesophageal cancer based on prospectively collected data within a predefined subproject of the randomised phase 3 trial Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK) 75/08.

Radiotherapy or Surgery? Comparative, Qualitative Assessment of Online Patient Education Materials on Prostate Cancer.

As multiple different treatment options are available for prostate cancer (PCa) and YouTube is commonly used as a source for medical information, we performed a systematic and comparative assessment of available videos guiding patients on their choice for the optimal treatment. An independent search for surgical therapy or radiotherapy of PCa on YouTube was performed and the 40 most viewed videos of both groups were analyzed. The validated DISCERN questionnaire and PEMAT were utilized to evaluate their quality and misinformation.

Creation of clinical algorithms for decision-making in oncology: an example with dose prescription in radiation oncology.

In oncology, decision-making in individual situations is often very complex. To deal with such complexity, people tend to reduce it by relying on their initial intuition. The downside of this intuitive, subjective way of decision-making is that it is prone to cognitive and emotional biases such as overestimating the quality of its judgements or being influenced by one's current mood.

Localized and Locally Advanced Prostate Cancer: Treatment Options.

Background: There are many treatment options for localized and locally advanced prostate cancer with radiotherapy and surgery representing the main local therapeutic strategies.

Summary: Depending on the risk of disease recurrence, we can stratify patients into low-, intermediate- and high-risk groups, which will guide patients' treatment. For low-risk patients, active surveillance is an option.