[The German Guideline Clearinghouse on Breast Cancer: the need for frequent updating of breast cancer guidelines requires effective guideline updating procedures].

In order to promote the quality of health care and guidelines in Germany the German Guideline Clearinghouse (Sponsors: German Medical Association, National Association of the Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, German Hospital Federation, Associations of the Sickness Funds and the Statutory Pension Insurance) was established at the Agency for Quality in Medicine (AQuMed) in 1999. The results of the 10th Guideline Clearing Project, the Guideline Clearing Report "Breast Cancer", were published in December 2003. In a systematic search using English/German language guideline databases and literature databases (Medline, Healthstar, Embase), 16 national guidelines were identified which were in accordance to the inclusion criteria (breast cancer treatment; German or English language; published after 1992; new guideline or genuine update (no adaptation); recommended for country-wide implementation).