Consideration of comorbidity in treatment decision making in multidisciplinary cancer team meetings: a systematic review

Geriatric assessment in multiple myeloma patients: validation of the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) score and comparison with other common comorbidity scores

“…A next step includes prospective randomized clinical studies to design therapeutic approaches with the help of a GA algorithm. 2,14,20,41,42 We conclude that both IMWG score and R-MCI are useful instruments in older myeloma patients for identifying those with geriatric risks. The publication of our validation analysis should attract the attention of cancer experts and help in the care of MM patients, the latter being an aim that all of us are enthusiastically persisting in daily.…”

Predictors of Treatment Decisions in Multidisciplinary Oncology Meetings: A Quantitative Observational Study

“…While our study shows that patient psychosocial information facilitates MTB decision-making, according to patient reports it can be inadequately addressed by health care providers and therefore, unsurprisingly, is then underrepresented in MTBs [7][8][9][10][11]. All patients, and cancer patients in particular, are faced not only with a physical burden, but also with the psychological and social consequence of illness.…”

“…The past decade has seen developments in research on MTBs, with studies examining the team decision-making process, decision implementation, and patient participation. A recurring pattern in decision-making is the skewed contribution to case reviews towards physicians and the biomedical aspect of the disease, at the expense of nursing input (even where specialist nurses are formally in attendance), patients' comorbidities and psychosocial circumstances [7][8][9]. The general consensus, however, is that patient-centered, holistic clinical decisions underpin high-quality patient care [3,8,[10][11].…”

“…The general consensus, however, is that patient-centered, holistic clinical decisions underpin high-quality patient care [3,8,[10][11]. There is evidence that failure to account for patients' social circumstances [12] and comorbidities [9] has a negative impact on the ability of MTB's to implement treatment recommendations [12]. Other studies have shown reduced costs [13] and improved care [14] when decisions are aligned with patients' needs and preferences.…”

Ovarian Cancer and Comorbidity: Is Poor Survival Explained by Choice of Primary Treatment or System Delay?

“…This has been shown for several cancer types including ovarian cancer, 6,7 for which standard treatment is complete surgical tumor debulking followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. Because comorbidity may increase the risk of severe complications after possible extensive surgery, 8 neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) has, since 2011, been acknowledged as a reasonable alternative to primary radical-intended surgery in patients with high age and/or severe comorbidity in the Danish National Practice Guideline.…”