Effect of multidisciplinary treatment (MDT) on survival outcomes of lung cancer patients: Experiences from China

Aim: To evaluate the effect of multidisciplinary treatment (MDT) on the survival outcomes of Chinese lung cancer patients.

Methods: Data from a Chinese tertiary cancer hospital of lung cancer patients were collected and divided into two groups (MDT+/-) according to whether the patients had received an MDT. The survival analysis was performed after propensity score matching (PSM).

Results: Before PSM, more patients in the MDT+ group had documented information on clinical characteristics and showed more unfavorable clinical characteristics than patients in the MDT- group. After PSM, there was no imbalance in the first-line treatment strategies between the two groups. When the patients were analyzed separately, for patients in the MDT- group, age at diagnosis, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score, stage, smoking history, and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene status were all significant factors for survival (p < 0.05). For patients in the MDT+ group, only age at diagnosis, stage, and comorbidities were significant factors for survival (p < 0.05). Moreover, age at diagnosis, ECOG score, stage, EGFR gene status, and MDT were all significant factors for survival for all patients (p < 0.001). The results indicate that MDT was a significant prognostic factor independent of clinical characteristics (HR: 2.095, 95% CI: 1.568-2.800, p < 0.001), with a significantly improved median survival (58.0 vs. 29.0 months, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Based on PSM, MDT itself did have a real favorable prognostic significance for Chinese lung cancer patients in the study.