S01.14 Lung Cancer MDT

Abstract

The Lung Cancer MDT David R Baldwin Consultant Respiratory Physician and Honorary Professor of Medicine Nottingham University Hospitals and University of Nottingham, UK Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) meetings or “Tumour Boards” are increasingly becoming a central component of lung cancer services. Management of lung cancer patients through diagnosis, staging, fitness assessment and treatment is a multidisciplinary endeavour. Good communication between disciplines means that the goal of personalised treatment can be realised because of the complexity of modern management, not least the rapid change in treatments. Many lung cancer services have a meeting of professionals at key points along the clinical pathway that is commonly at the point of decision to treat and where diagnosis and/or staging is complex. There are a number of documents that describe the membership of the MDT and how the meetings should function. Key is that all relevant professional groups are represented and that there is a clear record of the discussion. Despite the widespread adoption of MDT meetings, there remains limited evidence for their effectiveness. This is because the integration of MDTs into the lung cancer services has evolved as management has become increasingly complex. It would be difficult to devise an experiment to test the efficacy of the MDT as they are now so embedded in services. With respect to lung cancer screening, it is important that MDTs adhere to guideline-driven management so as to reduce the harms that may accrue. The place of the lung cancer MDT is in relation to a high probability of cancer. In screening it is probably better to have a separate MDT to advise on the management of nodules and incidental findings, again using guideline-driven management. All MDTs should record data for audit, quality improvement and research. multidisciplinary team, Guideline-driven, Multiprofessional