Medizinische Universität Graz Austria/Österreich - Forschungsportal - Medical University of Graz
Gewählte Publikation:
Scheuchenegger, J.
Quality management of the interdisciplinary tumor board for head and neck cancer. Causes of the difference between primarily suggested therapy and received therapy
Humanmedizin; [ Diplomarbeit ] ; 2018. pp. 70
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- Autor*innen der Med Uni Graz:
- Scheuchenegger Anna Birgitta
- Betreuer*innen:
- Thurnher Dietmar
- Vasicek Sarah Marvis
- Altmetrics:
- Abstract:
- Introduction: Since 2001 tumor boards have taken place at weekly intervals at the department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Graz. A panel of experts discuss the best currently available therapy options for patients with malignant tumors in the head and neck region. Since 2016 the subcenter “Head and Neck Tumors” officially is part of the Comprehensive Cancer Centre Graz. Methods: The study was conducted retrospectively. Patient data was collected through the hospital information system, called MEDOCS, used at the LKH-Univ. Klinikum Graz. We focused on patients introduced to the tumor board from January 2014 to December 2016. The main goal of the study was to ascertain how many of the patients received the primarily suggested treatment by the tumor board and what the reasons were within the group of patients who didn’t. Results: From January 2014 to December 2016 706 patients have been discussed in the tumor board. In this study we were interested only in the patients introduced to the tumor board for the first time, which were 562 out of the 706. 93% of the patients received the suggested therapy and75% of them completed the therapy. The other 25% underwent a change in their therapy plan or they couldn’t undergo the full treatment due to reasons like reduced general condition, intolerances or death. For 7% there was no documentation of the treatment undertaken because either the patient refused the therapy, or the patient was treated in another hospital. Discussion: Multidisciplinary tumor boards have become indispensable when making therapy decisions for head and neck cancer patients. Our retrospective data analyses of the tumor board patient data showed satisfactory results. 93% of all included patients received the primarily suggested therapy and 73.9% completed therapy according to the treatment plan without any changes. Radiation therapy seems to be the most tolerable therapy option as only 11% of radiotherapies were terminated early, in comparison with 36% of all chemotherapies and 28.6% of all immunotherapies. Women were significantly more likely to terminate radiation than men. The reasons for this should be further investigated. In terms of follow up care the clinic for otorhinolaryngology of the LKH-Univ. Klinikum Graz is ahead of common standards worldwide with 10 years of follow up care with yearly imaging.