The impact of multidisciplinary cancer conferences on overall survival: a meta-analysis

Ryan S Huang; Andrew Mihalache; Abdulwadud Nafees; Asad Hasan; Xiang Y Ye; Zhihui Liu; Natasha B Leighl; Srinivas Raman

doi:10.1093/jnci/djad268

The impact of multidisciplinary cancer conferences on overall survival: a meta-analysis

J Natl Cancer Inst. 2024 Mar 7;116(3):356-369. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djad268.

Authors

Ryan S Huang¹, Andrew Mihalache¹, Abdulwadud Nafees², Asad Hasan³, Xiang Y Ye⁴, Zhihui Liu⁴, Natasha B Leighl⁵, Srinivas Raman⁶

Affiliations

¹ Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
² University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
³ University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁴ Department of Biostatistics, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁵ Department of Medical Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁶ Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.

PMID: 38123515
DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djad268

Abstract

Background: Multidisciplinary cancer conferences consist of regular meetings between diverse specialists working together to share clinical decision making in cancer care. The aim of this study was to systematically review and meta-analyze the effect of multidisciplinary cancer conference intervention on the overall survival of patients with cancer.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted on Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials for studies published up to July 2023. Studies reporting on the impact of multidisciplinary cancer conferences on patient overall survival were included. A standard random-effects model with the inverse variance-weighted approach was used to estimate the pooled hazard ratio of mortality (multidisciplinary cancer conference vs non-multidisciplinary cancer conference) across studies, and the heterogeneity was assessed by I2. Publication bias was examined using funnel plots and the Egger test.

Results: A total of 134 287 patients with cancer from 59 studies were included in our analysis, with 48 467 managed by multidisciplinary cancer conferences and 85 820 in the control arm. Across all cancer types, patients managed by multidisciplinary cancer conferences had an increased overall survival compared with control patients (hazard ratio = 0.67, 95% confidence interval = 0.62 to 0.71, I2 = 84%). Median survival time was 30.2 months in the multidisciplinary cancer conference group and 19.0 months in the control group. In subgroup analysis, a positive effect of the multidisciplinary cancer conference intervention on overall survival was found in breast, colorectal, esophageal, hematologic, hepatocellular, lung, pancreatic, and head and neck cancer.

Conclusions: Overall, our meta-analysis found a significant positive effect of multidisciplinary cancer conferences compared with controls. Further studies are needed to establish nuanced guidelines when optimizing multidisciplinary cancer conference integration for treating diverse patient populations.

Publication types

Meta-Analysis

MeSH terms

Congresses as Topic
Humans
Neoplasms* / therapy