MULTIDISCIPLINARY CASE TEAMS - AN APPROACH TO THE FUTURE MANAGEMENT OF ADVANCED COLORECTAL-CANCER

The effective management of advanced colorectal cancer has traditional ly been viewed in terms of treatment outcome measures such as efficacy (survival, objective response and palliation) and safety. Although th ese outcomes are of paramount importance and are essential for the eva luation of the effectiveness and tolerability of treatment, they do no t take account of the global effect of therapy on patients, society an d healthcare systems. Furthermore, they may not reveal important diffe rences between treatments of equivalent antitumour efficacy that might influence the overall effectiveness in terms of acceptability of ther apy. To achieve this, a broader, patient-centred evaluation of advance d cancer treatment is required that acknowledges the views, experience and perspectives of all involved in the treatment process. To this en d, the International Working Group in Colorectal Cancer, a multidiscip linary group that encompasses expertise from a range of relevant field s and disciplines, has advocated a multidisciplinary approach to the t reatment or advanced colorectal cancer that is likely to deliver the b est possible overall care.