Abstract
e16523 Background: Multidisciplinary focused-care teams have shown beneficial outcomes in diagnosis and treatment in cancer patients as well as assist in providing accessible, cohesive and continuous care. The multidisciplinary team specializing in thoracic cancer at our institution includes thoracic surgeons, pulmonologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, radiologists and a weekly tumor board with the inclusion of a dietician, a pharmacist, and a psych/social worker. This study examined the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary focused program in improving overall care in lung cancer patients. Methods: Lung cancer patient data between January 2000-December 2009 were abstracted from the institutional cancer registry. Patient demographics, treatment received, and survival (1-year and 2-year) were compared between Group A (January 2000-July 2005) and Group B (August 2005-December 2009) using Fisher’s exact test. Results: 1202 patients (Group A = 760; Group B = 442) were evaluated. Majority of patients were > 60 years old, male, and has stage IV adenocarcinoma. Missing stage was less in Group B (13.8% vs 17.4%). Early stage patients in Group B received more surgeries and less inappropriate treatments. More palliative chemotherapy/radiation treatments were given in Group B late stage disease. More stage II (21.1% vs 2.3%) and IIIA (12% vs 1.5%) patients in Group B were treated with wedge resection and chemotherapy. One-year survival differences were seen between 2 groups in stage I, IIIA, and IV (P <0.05). 2-year survival difference was seen in stage IV disease (P<0.05). Conclusions: Introduction of multidisciplinary lung care team between 2005-2009 was associated with an increased patients being staged and more appropriate treatments. One year survival almost doubled in stage I patients where stage IV pts experienced up to 4 times improvement in 1- and 2-year survival. The results of the present evaluation appear to confirm the value of a multidisciplinary approach to the management of patients with lung cancer.
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