The importance of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for the quality and development of supportive care in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries

Supportive care CPGs are intended to improve the quality of supportive care received by cancer patients. They hold potential benefits for health-care professionals, health-care organizations and patients. In order to provide an effective influence of CPGs on supportive care development in CEE countries their validity and successful implementation in clinical practice must be ensured. This would involve several important steps: (1) achievement of a consensus across Europe about what constitutes supportive care in cancer; (2) identification of supportive care priorities in CEE countries to be covered by the guidelines; and (3) searching existing CPGs relevant to previously identified priorities. Valid international CPGs could then be translated and adapted to local resources and circumstances in CEE countries and used to prepare national supportive care CPGs which could assist in the development of national supportive care standards. Skills, expertise and additional investment are required for local adaptation, dissemination and implementation of international supportive care CPGs.