The following is a summary of “Implementation of melanoma guidelines in the multidisciplinary setting: A qualitative analysis,” published in the FEBRUARY 2023 issue of Surgery by Mott, et al.
For a study, researchers sought to explore how clinicians considered multidisciplinary treatment options for sentinel lymph node-positive melanoma, particularly completion lymph node dissection (CLND) and adjuvant systemic therapy (AT).
They conducted semi-structured interviews with surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, and otolaryngologists and analyzed the data thematically. The study included 26 participants who provided diverging perspectives on CLND and AT, despite considering melanoma care as inherently “multidisciplinary.”
Participants acknowledged the importance of conversations facilitated by shared clinic days or space. However, the participants expressed challenges for surveillance and ownership of patients. Surgeons wanted to retain ownership of patients but felt uncomfortable overseeing AT needs. The participants also questioned the fidelity of nodal ultrasounds, noted redundancy in their roles, and described a “surveillance burden” for patients.
The study concluded that there are opportunities to improve multidisciplinary melanoma care through broader consensus on translating emerging data into patient care and delineating surveillance roles. This could help address the diverging perspectives of clinicians on CLND and AT for sentinel lymph node-positive melanoma. In addition, the study highlighted the importance of multidisciplinary care in melanoma management and the need for effective communication among clinicians to improve patient outcomes.
Source: americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610(22)00588-8/fulltext
