This is a health services intervention study aimed at understanding the impact of intensive multi-disciplinary care compared with standard care on patient-reported symptom outcomes and prognostic awareness in patients with brain metastases.
This is a cohort study of patient with newly diagnosed brain metastases assigned to standard of care (SOC) or intensive multi-disciplinary care (IMDC). Care for all patients with brain metastases involves complex medical decision making and requires input for multiple stakeholders, including medical oncology, neurosurgery, radiation oncology, and neuro-oncology. Palliative care should be an essential component of the care team for all patients with brain metastases by the very nature of this advanced malignancy. At the University of Vermont, our current process for diagnosis and management of patients with brain metastases relies heavily on the physician and team who make the initial diagnosis to consult others as they see appropriate. This process may look different for different patients. We rationalize that a systematic approach with intensive multidisciplinary care (IMDC) will benefit patients with brain metastases by providing consistent access to multi-disciplinary discussion.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
40
Health services intervention
University of Vermont Medical Center
Burlington, Vermont, United States
RECRUITINGPatient reported outcomes
Symptom burden based on patient reporting on Brain Mets Symptom Inventory
Time frame: 6-12 months
Feasibility
Number of % of patients able to complete protocol-specified activities
Time frame: 6-12 months
Patient understanding of prognosis
Concordance with physician predication of prognosis
Time frame: 6-12 months
survival
Survival outcomes for patients receiving best supportive care
Time frame: 6-12 months
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.