Breathe (Dec 2020)

Multidisciplinary care models for patients with lung cancer

  • Georgia Hardavella,
  • Armin Frille,
  • Christina Theochari,
  • Elli Keramida,
  • Elena Bellou,
  • Andreas  Fotineas,
  • Irma Bracka,
  • Loukia Pappa,
  • Vaia Zagana,
  • Maria Palamiotou,
  • Panagiotis  Demertzis,
  • Ioannis Karampinis

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1183/20734735.0076-2020
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 4

Abstract

Read online

Multidisciplinary care is the cornerstone of lung cancer treatment in the developed world, even though there is a relative lack of consistent evidence that this care model improves outcomes. In this review, we present the available literature regarding how to set up and run an efficient multidisciplinary care model for lung cancer patients with emphasis on team members’ roles and responsibilities. Moreover, we present some limited evidence about multidisciplinary care and its impact on lung cancer outcomes and survival. This review provides simple guidance on setting up and running a multidisciplinary service for lung cancer patients. It highlights the importance of defined roles and responsibilities for team members. It also presents concise information based on the literature regarding the impact of multidisciplinary care in lung cancer outcomes (e.g. survival of patients undergoing lung cancer surgery).