P0215 Effects of multidisciplinary team care on the survival of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer in Taiwan

Abstract

Background In Taiwan, cancer is the leading cause of death, and lung cancer has the highest mortality rate of all cancers. Some studies have shown that multidisciplinary team (MDT) care can improve survival rates in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC); however, no study has investigated the effect of MDT care on different stages of NSCLC. Methods The target population for this study consisted of patients with newly diagnosed NSCLC as recorded in the 2005–2008 Cancer Registry. This data was linked with the National Health Insurance Research Database and the Cause of Death Statistics Database. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to explore whether MDT care had an effect on survival and to analyse the influence of MDT care on different stages of cancer. To avoid selection bias between patients with and without involvement of MDT care, the propensity score (estimating the probability of involvement of MDT care for each cancer patient) was used as a control variable in the Cox model. Findings The hazard ratio (HR) of death for MDT participants was significantly lower than for MDT non-participants (HR 0.90, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.86–0.94). HR for MDT participants with stage III or stage IV NSCLC was significantly lower than for MDT non-participants (HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.76–0.90; HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.86–0.96, respectively). Interpretation More professionals should be involved in the treatment of patients at advanced stages since MDT care has a much greater effect on patients at advanced stages. MDT care can facilitate individualisation of treatment protocols for these patients. This study revealed that MDT care can also significantly increase the survival rate of patients with stage III and IV NSCLC.