NCI-Designated Cancer Care Versus Community Cancer Care for Multiple Myeloma
Posted: Thursday, January 4, 2018
Patients with multiple myeloma who saw a specialist at a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center seemed to have better overall survival than patients who saw a community oncologist alone, according to a study presented by William A. Wood, MD, of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues at the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition (Abstract 529).
In the study, researchers examined overall survival for patients with multiple myeloma, drawing on data from 1029 patients diagnosed in North Carolina from 2006 to 2012. They found that patients had a higher risk of mortality if they did not see a provider at an NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. Specifically, the investigators found that within 1 year of diagnosis, the risk of mortality was 39% greater if patients saw a low-volume community provider compared with patients who saw a provider at an NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The researchers indicated that future studies should address the types of collaborations that produce better outcomes for patients and should further probe differences in overall survival for community providers who see a large volume of patients.
