Outcomes of multidisciplinary treatment planning in US cancer care settings

Abstract

Multidisciplinary treatment planning (MTP) is a process of engaging multiple disciplines to develop or refine the disease management plan. It is widely implemented in US cancer treatment settings and is considered to have favorable effects on both care quality and other outcomes. However, evidence reviews to date regarding MTP effectiveness have based their conclusions on studies conducted predominantly outside the United States. The authors conducted a systematic review of US-based studies to synthesize and critically appraise evidence of the effects of MTP on cancer care quality, health services outcomes, and survival. Database searches identified studies of MTP outcomes conducted in US cancer care settings from 2000 to 2017. Forty-five studies met criteria for inclusion. MTP was associated with favorable effects on several indicators of cancer care quality, including delivery of guideline-concordant treatment and improvements in diagnostic accuracy, staging completeness, surgical technique, and timeliness. Effects on survival and clinical trials enrollment were mixed. Delivery formats for MTP were generally not well described, and study designs were nonrandomized, limiting the ability to identify mediators of intervention effects. Continued study is warranted to clarify effective components of MTP interventions, and to understand the mechanism(s) through which MTP produces favorable effects on outcomes.

Research Status and Molecular Mechanism of the Traditional Chinese Medicine and Antitumor Therapy Combined Strategy Based on Tumor Microenvironment

“…Although treatment methods and drug research and development continue to improve, many problems such as drug resistance and recurrence still hinder progress (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9). The treatment of malignant tumors encompasses multidisciplinary comprehensive diagnosis and treatment (10)(11)(12) and reasonable combination and arrangement of multiple treatment methods including surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, endocrine therapy, interventional therapy (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19). Multidisciplinary treatment is not a simple superimposition of multiple treatment methods, but a comprehensive consideration of the characteristics and specific conditions of the patients and the tumor, leading to a planned and reasonable choice (20).…”

Will Virtual Multidisciplinary Team Meetings Become the Norm for Musculoskeletal Oncology Care following the COVID-19 Pandemic? - Experience from a tertiary sarcoma centre

“…The role of an MDT in improving outcomes in cancer has been vastly reported across all cancers 1,21,22 .…”

Will Virtual Multidisciplinary Team Meetings Become the Norm for Musculoskeletal Oncology Care following the COVID-19 Pandemic? - Experience from a tertiary sarcoma centre

“…The role of an MDT in improving outcomes in cancer has been vastly reported across all cancers 1,19,20 . However, with regards to sarcoma, there is minimal literature on their e cacy.…”