Clinical management of gastric cancer: results of a multicentre survey

BMC Cancer. 2011 Aug 24:11:369. doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-11-369.

Abstract

Background: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network clinical practice guidelines in oncology-gastric cancer guidelines have been widely used to provide appropriate recommendations for the treatment of patients with gastric cancer. The aim of this study was to examine the adherence of surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, and radiation oncologists' to the recommended guidelines.

Methods: A questionnaire asking the treatment options for gastric cancer cases was sent to 394 Chinese oncology specialists, including surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, and radiation oncologists working in hospitals joined in The Western Cooperative Gastrointestinal Oncology Group of China. The questionnaire involved a series of clinical scenarios regarding the interpretation of surgery, neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and advanced treatment planning of gastric cancer.

Results: Analysis of 358 respondents (91%) showed variations between each specialization and from the recommended guidelines in the management approaches to specific clinical scenarios. The majority of specialists admitted that less than 50% of patients received multidisciplinary evaluation before treatment. The participants gave different responses to questions involving adjuvant, neoadjuvant, and advanced settings, compared to the recommended guidelines.

Conclusions: These results highlight the heterogeneity of the treatment of gastric cancer. Surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, and radiation oncologists are not adhering to the recommended guidelines.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Chi-Square Distribution
  • China / epidemiology
  • Combined Modality Therapy
  • Female
  • Guideline Adherence / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Oncology Service, Hospital
  • Palliative Care
  • Practice Guidelines as Topic
  • Practice Patterns, Physicians'
  • Statistics, Nonparametric
  • Stomach Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Stomach Neoplasms / epidemiology
  • Stomach Neoplasms / surgery
  • Stomach Neoplasms / therapy*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires