Multidisciplinary clinics for colorectal cancer may not provide more efficient coordination of care

Background: This retrospective study compares a multidisciplinary clinic (MDC) to standard care for time to treatment of colorectal cancer.

Methods: We queried our institutional ACS-NSQIP database for patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer from 2017 to 2020. Patients were stratified by initial clinic visit (MDC vs control). Primary endpoint was the time to start treatment (TST), either neoadjuvant therapy or surgery, from the date of diagnosis by colonoscopy.

Results: A total of 405 patients were evaluated (115 MDC, 290 Control). TST from diagnosis was not significantly shorter for the MDC cohort (MDC 30 days, Control 37 days; p = 0.07) even when stratified by type of initial treatment of neoadjuvant therapy (MDC 30, Control 34 days; p = 0.28) or surgery (MDC 32.5 days, Control 38 days; p = 0.35).

Conclusion: Implementation of an MDC provides insignificant reduction in delay to start treatment for colorectal cancer patients as compared to standard care colorectal surgery clinics.

Classification: Colorectal.