Alternative- and focal therapy trends for prostate cancer: a total population analysis of in-patient treatments in Germany from 2006 to 2019

Abstract

Purpose: Focal therapy (FT) offers an alternative approach for prostate cancer (PCa) treatment in selected patients. However, little is known on its actual establishment in health care reality. Patients and methods: We defined FT as high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), hyperthermia ablation, cryotherapy, transurethral ultrasound ablation (TULSA) or vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy (VTP) TOOKAD®. We analyzed the nationwide German hospital billing database for a PCa diagnosis in combination with FT. For analyses on the hospital level, we used the reimbursement.INFO tool based on hospitals’ quality reports. The study period was 2006 to 2019. Results: We identified 23,677 cases of FT from 2006 to 2019. Considering all PCa cases with surgery, radiotherapy or FT, the share of FT was stable at 4%. The annual caseload of FT increased to a maximum of 2653 cases in 2008 (p < 0.001) and then decreased to 1182 cases in 2014 (p < 0.001). Since 2015, the cases of FT remained on a plateau around 1400 cases per year. The share of HIFU was stable at 92–96% from 2006 to 2017 and decreased thereafter to 75% in 2019 (p = 0.015). In 2019, VTP-TOOKAD® increased to 11.5% and TULSA to 6%. In 2006, 21% (62/299) of urological departments performed FT and 20 departments reached > 20 FT procedures. In 2019, 16% (58/368) of urological departments performed FT and 7 departments reached > 20 FT. In 2019, 25 urological departments offered FT other than HIFU: 5 centers hyperthermia ablation, 11 centers VTP TOOKAD®, 3 centers cryotherapy, 6 centers TULSA. Conclusion: The FT development in Germany followed the Gartner hype cycle. While HIFU treatment is the most commonly performed FT, the share of newer FT modalities such as VTP-TOOKAD® and TULSA is remarkably increasing.