Multidisciplinary team quality improves the survival outcomes of locally advanced rectal cancer patients: A post hoc analysis of the STELLAR trial

Abstract

Purpose

We sought to determine the association between multidisciplinary team (MDT) quality and survival of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.

Methods

In a post hoc analysis of the randomized phase III STELLAR trial, 464 patients with distal or middle-third, clinical tumor category cT3-4 and/or regional lymph node-positive rectal cancer who completed surgery were evaluated. Disease-free survival (DFS) and Overall survival (OS) were stratified by Multidisciplinary team (MDT) quality, which was also included in the univariable and multivariable analyses of DFS and OS.

Results

According to the univariable analyses, a significantly worse DFS was associated with a fewer specialized medical disciplines participating in MDT (<5 vs ≥ 5; P=0.049),a lower frequency of MDT meetings (<once a week vs ≥ once a week; P=0.021) and a smaller MDT annual discussion volume of rectal cancer (≤200 vs > 200; P=0.039). In addition, a lower number of specialized medical disciplines participating in MDT (<5 vs ≥ 5; P<0.001), a lower frequency of MDT meetings (<once a week vs ≥ once a week; P<0.001) and a smaller MDT annual discussion volume of rectal cancer (≤200 vs > 200; P=0.001) were the variables associated with OS. These 3 factors were considered when assessing MDT quality, which was classified into 2 categories: high quality or general quality. Patients treated in hospitals with high MDT quality had longer 3-year OS (90.5 % vs 78.1 %; P=0.001) and similar 3-year DFS (70.3 % vs 61.3 %; P=0.109) compared to those treated in hospitals of the general MDT quality group. Furthermore, multivariable analyses revealed a significance for DFS (HR, 1.648; 95 % CI, 1.143–2.375; P=0.007) and OS (HR, 2.771; 95 % CI, 1.575–4.877; P<0.001) in MDT quality.

Conclusions

The use of hospitals with optimized multidisciplinary infrastructure had a significant influence on survival of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.