Multidisciplinary team meeting and EUSOMA quality indicators in breast cancer care: A French regional multicenter study

INTRODUCTION

We evaluate breast cancer (BC) pathway at a regional level including public, private and university institutions. We assessed the quality of multidisciplinary team meetings (MTM) and compliance with a panel of European high-quality indicators (EUSOMA QIs).

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective multicenter (n = 20) study in the largest health care region in France. Between January and April 2015, we included all patients discussed at an MTM after a diagnosis of BC (n = 619). We analyzed quality of MTM by assessing the quorum, the reliability of data transcription and the exhaustivity of pre-therapeutic MTM. We then analyzed the compliance with a selected panel of 16 EUSOMA QIs.

RESULTS

During MTM discussion, data were more than 95% consistent with medical records for 9/11 items. Pre-operative tumor histology (90.6%) and post-operative resection margins (84.3%) were the least concordant between medical records and MTM. Minimum standards as defined by EUSOMA were reached for 11/16 QIs, but not reached for pathology reports in non-invasive BC (78.2%), proportion of exclusive sentinel lymph node biopsies in patients with clinically negative axilla (85.2%), performing adjuvant chemotherapy (76.6%), and proportion of patients discussed in pre-therapeutic and post-operative MTM (63.5%).

CONCLUSIONS

In this multicentric study evaluating the quality of BC care with a representative sample of institutions, compliance with EUSOMA indicators was satisfactory for all type of institutions. However, too few patients were discussed in pre-therapeutic MTM (especially in non-university hospitals 43.7% [39.4-48.1]) versus 88.7% for others [82.2-95.1]) and data transcription was likely responsible for up to 15% of discordance.

Are there variations in adherence to colorectal cancer clinical guidelines depending on treatment place and recommendation novelty? The French EvaCCoR observational study

BACKGROUND

Studies have shown clinical practices variation between centers in colorectal cancer (CRC) management. After the implementation of national cancer plans, we tested for differences in center and patients' socioeconomic position (SEP)-related variation in CRC guidelines.

METHODS

All patients aged 18 years and over, cared for a first CRC in 2010 in Southwest of France. We used mixed effect model to test for center-related heterogeneity (CRH) in recommendation, from the oldest to the more recent: (1) at least 12 lymph nodes analysed for stage II, (2) the prescription of adjuvant chemotherapy stage III and (3) the assessment of CRC molecular phenotype regarding KRAS status for stage IV. Patients' SEP was approached by an ecological social deprivation index.

RESULTS

We found: higher adherence for the oldest than for the most recent recommendations; no CRH in recommendation No. 2 but lower adherence in academic centers; a CRH for recommendations No. 1 and 3; no SEP-related differences in clinical practices.

CONCLUSION

Results showed that older recommendations have higher adherence but did not support increasing influence of centers characteristics and CRH as recommendations are more recent.

[Prostate cancer: Quality assessment of clinical management in the Midi-Pyrenean region in 2011]

OBJECTIVES

Assessing the quality of the clinical management of prostate cancer in the Midi-Pyrenean region in 2011.

METHODS

The study population was randomly selected among new cases of prostate cancer presented in Multidisciplinary Team Meeting (MTM) in 2011. The indicators defined with the professionals have evaluated the quality of the diagnostic care, when treatment started and at the time of the MTM.

RESULTS

Six hundred and thirty-three new patients were included (median age at diagnosis=69years, min: 48; max: 93). In diagnostic period, 92% of patients had a prostate biopsy. Performing a pelvic MRI, an abdomino-pelvic CT and bone scintigraphy concerned respectively 53%, 55% and 61% of intermediate or high-risk patients. The Gleason score, surgical margins and pathological stage were included in over 98% patient records treated by radical prostatectomy. A PSA assay in 3months after prostatectomy was found in 59% of surgical patients. The MTM was performed before treatment to 83% of patients. About three-quarters of surgical patients with stage pT≥3 or pN1 or with no healthy margins were discussed in MTM after surgery.

CONCLUSION

Most of the studied indicators reach a high level. However, the lower level of realization of complementary examinations may question about their real place, accessibility and traceability.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

4.

Adherence to consensus-based diagnosis and treatment guidelines in adult soft-tissue sarcoma patients: a French prospective population-based study

BACKGROUND

Soft-tissue sarcomas (STSs) are rare tumors with varied histological presentations. Management and treatment are thus complex, but crucial for patient outcomes. We assess adherence to adult STS management guidelines across two French regions (10% of the French population). We also report standardized incidence.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

STS patients diagnosed from 1 November 2006 to 31 December 2007 were identified from pathology reports, medical hospital records, and cancer registries. Guideline adherence was assessed by 23 criteria (validated by Delphi consensus method), and age and sex-standardized incidence rates estimated. Associations between patient, treatment, and institutional factors and adherence with three major composite criteria relating to diagnostic imaging and biopsy as well as multidisciplinary team (MDT) case-review are reported.

RESULTS

Two hundred and seventy-four patients were included (57.7% male, mean age 60.8 years). Practices were relatively compliant overall, with over 70% adherence for 10 criteria. Three criteria with perfect Delphi consensus had low adherence: receiving histological diagnosis before surgery, adequacy of histological diagnosis (adherence around 50% for both), and MDT discussion before surgery (adherence <30%). Treatment outside of specialized centers was associated with lower adherence for all three composite criteria, and specific tumor sites and/or features were associated with lower adherence for diagnostic imaging, methods, and MDT meetings. STS standardized incidence rates were 4.09 (European population) and 3.33 (World) /100 000 inhabitants.

CONCLUSIONS

Initial STS diagnosis and treatment across all stages (imaging, biopsy, and MDT meetings) need improving, particularly outside specialized centers. Educational interventions to increase surgeon's sarcoma awareness and knowledge and to raise patients' awareness of the importance of seeking expert care are necessary.

Medical and non-medical determinants of prostate cancer management: a population-based study

Non-medical factors influencing treatment choices in prostate cancer are not well understood. We carried out a population-based study to obtain information on the management of prostate cancer patients. Our study population consisted of 1000 men diagnosed during 1995 from five French cancer registries. We looked at the main treatments performed in the year following diagnosis. Multivariate analysis was used to describe the determinants of the various treatment choices, simultaneously taking into account medical and non-medical factors. The probability of treatment by radical prostatectomy (RP) was 3 times higher in the Tarn area, whereas in the Calvados area the probability of treatment by radiotherapy was almost 6 times higher. The private sector favoured radical prostatectomy and hormonal therapy. In France, as in other developed countries, the initial treatment of prostate cancer varies greatly according to non-medical factors. This type of investigation, if carried out regularly, would make it possible to evaluate changes in practice patterns.

[Lip, oral cavity and pharynx cancers in France: incidence, mortality and trends (period 1975-1995)]

With 10,882 estimated new cases in 1995 in France, lip, oral cavity and pharynx tumours rank 4th, representing 8.1% of all cancers in men. They are less frequent in women, with a sex ratio of 7. Based on the French cancer registries data which cover 13% of the metropolitan territory in 2000, both incidence and mortality increased until early 1980s to decrease thereafter. The main hypothesis proposed to explain the French leadership world-wide for these tumours deals with alcohol and tobacco consumption. Important differences observed between several areas within Europe, for some subsites, in connection with age or sex, are pointing toward the need of new studies about environment and/or genetics. Until now, comparisons between countries were made at the level of lip, oral cavity and pharynx category as a whole or by large subgroups. In this work we attempt to establish more accurate statistics, in order to comply with the situation of this cancer in France. Present results should encourage the scientific community to conduct site specific epidemiological studies.