Measuring best practice - Presentation at Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) meetings prior to treatment in pancreatic and oesophagogastric cancers

*** $3,000 scholarship on offer to one successful applicant *** Presentation and discussion of patient cases at multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings play an important role in selecting the optimal management strategy for a variety of cancers. The objectives of the MDT meeting are to enhance the interaction between specialities enabling the expertise of different disciplines to inform a personalised, stage-specific, care plan taking into account the patient’s functional status and preferences. Benefits to patients whose details are discussed at MDT meetings include them being more likely to receive accurate and complete preoperative staging and appropriate treatment (surgery, neo-adjuvant/adjuvant or palliative care) compared to those who are not discussed at MDT meetings. In the case of localised disease, this may avoid adverse surgical outcomes and its subsequent morbidity. In the case of patients with advanced disease, it may contribute to optimal medical management (e.g. appropriate choice of systemic chemotherapy and symptom management), as well as early referral to palliative care services, the benefits of which have been clearly demonstrated in advanced gastrointestinal cancers. Some studies have also shown improved survival outcomes for those presented at MDTs, although this has not been definitively proven. Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines recommend all newly diagnosed patients with pancreatic (PC) and oesophagogastric cancer (OGC), regardless of stage, are presented at an MDT meeting prior to any treatment to review and discuss the treatment and management plans of these patients. However, not all individuals diagnosed with these cancers are presented at an MDT meeting. PROJECT AIM: The aim of this study is to use real-world data from the Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Registry (UGICR) to explore presentation of individuals with PC and OGC at MDT meetings at health services in Victoria. The project will involve: 1) Data collection 2) Data auditing and cleaning 3) Data analysis *** $3,000 scholarship on offer to one successful applicant ***