PATIENT JOURNEY TO TREATMENT IN PANCREATIC AND GASTROOESOPHAGEAL CANCER

Abstract

BACKGROUNDː A patient's journey from cancer diagnosis to treatment should ow quickly and efciently. Australian guidelines for management of oesophagogastric (OG) and pancreatic cancer recommend specic time targets. For OG cancer this is multidisciplinary discussion (MDM) within four weeks of referral and treatment within two weeks. For pancreatic cancer the recommendation is MDM within one week and treatment within four weeks. The aim of this study is to investigate patient's journey from diagnosis to treatment and identify barriers to meeting these Australian guidelines. METHODSː All patients with OG and pancreatic cancer referred treated in an Australian Tertiary Hospital over a calendar year (twelve month) period were reviewed. The hospital's MDM database and patient records were reviewed for referral date, multidisciplinary discussion date and initiation of treatment date. Barriers to timely treatment were identied. RESULTSːIn a calendar year a total of 137 new patients were identied. Median time from referral to rst MDM was 7 days. For pancreatic cancer 67% met the recommended one week from referral to MDM, while 96% of other OG cancers met the four week time frame. Timely treatment was achieved for 82.5%, with main delays being diagnostic testing (imaging, histology, endoscopic ultrasound), oncological treatment, endoscopic management, and surgery. CONCLUSIONSː The majority of patient's progress efciently from diagnosis to treatment. Barriers include delays to diagnostic tests and access to surgery.