Introduction:
Multidisciplinary meetings (MDM’s) allow for joint decision making by a panel of experts, which in turn improves time to diagnosis, treatment decisions and patient quality of life. Latrobe Regional Hospital (LRH) hosts a centralised weekly Lung MDM to support the Gippsland population. Data from the Lung MDM is collected for quality improvement purposes.
Objectives/Aims:
Description/Methodology:
Between January 2019 and June 2022, retrospective data was obtained on all patients discussed at the Gippsland Lung MDM with a new diagnosis of lung cancer.
Preliminary Results:
420 patients were diagnosed with lung cancer. 234 (55.7%) were male, 186 (44.2%) female, including 10 (2.3%) Indigenous Australians. The median age at diagnosis was 74 years (40-94). Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) histologies contributed to 344 (81.9%) of diagnoses and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) to 76 (18.0%). 37 (8.8%) patients did not receive a histological diagnosis. More than half of patients, 218 (56.0%) had stage IV disease at diagnosis, with stage I-III lung cancers recorded at 81 (19.2%), 444 (10.4%) and 92 (21.9%) respectively.
The most common methods of tissue diagnosis included Computer Tomography (CT) guided percutaneous biopsy (n=128, 53%), bronchoscopy (n=43, 10%), plural fluid cytology (n=29, 6.9%), mediastinoscopy (n=18, 2.2%) or other percutaneous or surgical biopsy (n=68, 16.1%). 103 (24%) of patients had an Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) to obtain tissue or to confirm staging. All 480 patients had a CT chest scan and 187 (44.5%) had a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan. Brain imaging, including Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and CT occurred in 169 (40.2%) patients, including 118 (28%) and 55 (13%) patients respectively.
Conclusion:
More than half of the lung cancer population in Gippsland are diagnosed with stage IV disease. Identifying the factors contributing to late-stage diagnosis are critical to improve regional lung cancer outcomes.