Impact of a structured quality management program on surgical outcome in primary advanced ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Surgical outcome in advanced ovarian cancer (AOC) is an important prognostic factor and the only factor amendable to improvement by optimization. Therefore, introduction of quality management programs (QM) regarding the surgical therapy in ovarian cancer may help to improve outcome. METHODS: We introduced a specific ovarian cancer quality management program in 2001 in our gynecologic oncology center. Analysis of 396 consecutive patients with primary surgery for advanced ovarian cancer FIGO stages IIB-IV operated before the introduction of the quality management program 1997-2000, or during the introduction years 2001-2003, or after establishing 2004-2008. RESULTS: Thirty-three percent had complete debulking to no macroscopic residual disease from 1997 to 2000. This rate increased to 47% in 2001-2003 (n = 86) and 62% in 2004-2008 (n = 259). The utilization of extended surgical procedures increased over time. Patients with complete resection had 5-YSR of 55% compared to 16% in patients with residuals 1-10 mm, and 13% in patients with residuals >1 cm (p < 0.001). The median OS increased from 26 months 1997-2000 to 37 months 2001-2003 and 45 months in 2004-2008 (p < 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Optimizing surgical skills, infrastructure, and introduction of quality management programs may improve both surgical and overall outcome in advanced ovarian cancer.

Para-aortic lymph node metastasis in malignant dysgerminoma of the ovary.

Dysgerminomas comprise approximately 2-5% of all ovarian malignancies and mostly affect young adolescent women. Primary comprehensive surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy consisting of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP) are the current recommended treatment options, the latter reserved for advanced stages (FIGO II-IV). We report two patients aged 20 and 26 years who presented with an initial FIGO stage IA, but inadequately assessed. Both were subsequently diagnosed with recurrent malignant dysgerminoma and para-aortic lymph node metastasis. Neither had received comprehensive staging at initial surgery nor adjuvant radio or chemotherapy. Both needed extensive surgery and multiagent chemotherapy for survival and belong to the small percentage of FIGO IA dysgerminoma patients showing a relapse. Comprehensive initial surgery including systematic para-aortic lymphadenectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy at tertiary referral centers is needed to minimize the treatment burden.

Impact of treatment guidelines and implementation of a quality assurance program on quality of care in endometrial cancer.

BACKGROUND: The treatment guidelines in the last decade have shown a trend towards increasing surgical radicality in endometrial cancer. Little information is available on the implementation of standards into clinical reality. We evaluated the adherence to standard therapy before and after introduction of an internal quality management system and determined the reasons for non-adherence. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the inhouse tumor registry was performed. Included were all patients with Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) I-III endometrial cancer and therapy at the Dr. Horst Schmidt Klinik (HSK) from 1997 to 2007. RESULTS: 206 patients with epithelial endometrial cancer in stage FIGO I-III underwent primary surgery at the HSK. 140 (68%) patients were operated as recommended by the guidelines. 20% of patients were operated less radically (17% vs. 22% before and after introduction of guidelines; p = 0.33) and 12% more radically. The latter was significantly reduced after implementation of quality management (21% vs. 7%; p = 0.004). Comorbidities and age played an important role in less-than-standard treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Adherence to guideline-based therapy for endometrial cancer can be achieved in most patients. Implementation of standards and quality assurance primarily helps to avoid surgical overtreatment but failed to reduce less-than-standard treatment radicality. The latter seemed to be more defined by patient characteristics than by institution standards.

Compliance to consensus recommendations, surgeon's experience, and introduction of a quality assurance and management program: influence on therapy of early-stage ovarian carcinoma.

State-of-the-art surgical staging and adjuvant chemotherapy in early-stage ovarian carcinoma have an impact on patient's outcome, but compliance to guidelines and consensus recommendations is still poor. This article reports on our results before and after introduction of a quality assurance and management program in our clinic in 2001. Patients with ovarian carcinoma limited to the pelvis who underwent primary surgery in our hospital from 1997 to October 2007 were eligible for this study. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the impact of compliance with our management program and physician's experience in ovarian carcinoma surgery on achieving both standards of surgery and chemotherapy. In a total of 117 women, a significant impact on adherence to guideline-defined comprehensive surgical staging was found for poor Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (odds ratio [OR], 22.16; confidence interval [CI] 3.2-152.0; P = 0.002) and year of surgery before 2001 (OR, 47.60; CI, 9.20-245.22; P < 0.001). Tumor grading less than G3 (OR, 4.14; CI, 1.20-14.22; P = 0.02) was a statistically significant predictor for receiving standard adjuvant chemotherapy. Survival analyses showed a trend toward improved survival for patients having received guideline-adopted therapy, but event numbers were too low for adequate analyses. The introduction of a quality assurance program for treatment of ovarian carcinoma represents a major improvement of patient care. It led to a higher compliance with consensus recommendations and showed already a trend toward improved outcome. Further outcome research should focus on methods for implementation of guidelines in daily practice in institutions caring for patients with ovarian carcinoma.