Appropriateness of multidisciplinary treatment related to the adequacy evaluation of gastric cancer from the surgeon's point of view: a retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: Multidisciplinary treatment (MDT) in gastric cancer is an effective approach for establishing treatment plans. However, the appropriateness of using "ratio of MDT" as an item for evaluating the adequacy of gastric cancer treatment in Korea has not been previously researched. The purpose of this study is to verify whether the "ratio of MDT" is appropriate as an item for gastric cancer adequacy evaluation from the surgeon's perspective.

Methods: This study involved 142 patients who received MDT at our hospital between December 2015 and January 2023. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on the date when gastric cancer adequacy evaluation was implemented; there were 71 patients before and after the evaluation was conducted, respectively. Based on electronic medical records, the initial plan prepared before the MDT clinic and the final plan prepared after the clinic were compared to determine whether the plan was changed.

Results: The average age of patients who received MDT before and after the evaluation was 64.8 and 62.2 years, respectively. Overall, 50 and 21 patients were male (70.4%) and female (29.6%), respectively, in both groups. Before the evaluation, 26 patients (36.6%) who received MDT changed their treatment plans after visiting the clinic, and 15 patients (21.1%) who received MDT after the evaluation had their treatment plans modified. Groups who received MDT and changes in treatment plans were significantly correlated (P = 0.042).

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that including the "ratio of MDT" as an item of gastric cancer adequacy evaluation needs reassessment.