Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32393303›Full record

ArticleDiagnostic pathology2020

Grading variation in 2,934 patients with ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast: the effect of laboratory- and pathologist-specific feedback reports.

Carmen van Dooijeweert, Paul J van Diest, Inge O Baas, Elsken van der Wall, Ivette A G Deckers

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Diagnostic pathology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Detection of grey zones in inter-rater agreement studies.BMC medical research methodology · 2023
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Carmen van DooijeweertDepartment of Pathology, University Medical Center Utrecht, PO Box 85500, 3508, GA, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Paul J van DiestDepartment of Pathology, University Medical Center Utrecht, PO Box 85500, 3508, GA, Utrecht, the Netherlands. p.j.vandiest@umcutrecht.nl.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0658-2745
Inge O BaasDepartment of Medical Oncology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Elsken van der WallDepartment of Medical Oncology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Ivette A G DeckersFoundation PALGA (the nationwide network and registry of histo- and cytopathology in the Netherlands), Houten, the Netherlands.

Funding

The Quality Foundation of the Dutch Association of Medical Specialists (SKMS) Not applicable
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHistologic grade of ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast (DCIS) may become the single biomarker that decides whether patients will be treated. Yet, evidence shows that grading variation in daily practice is substantial. To facilitate quality improvement, feedback reports, in which laboratory-specific case-mix adjusted proportions per grade were benchmarked against other laboratories, were sent to the individual laboratories by March 1, 2018. One year later, the effect of these feedback reports on inter-laboratory variation was studied.

methodsSynoptic pathology reports of all pure DCIS resection specimens between March 1, 2017 and March 1, 2019 were retrieved from PALGA (the nationwide Dutch pathology registry). Laboratory-specific proportions per grade were compared to the overall proportion in the year before and after feedback. The absolute deviation for all three grades at once, represented by the overall deviation score (ODS), was calculated as the sum of deviations from the grade-specific overall proportions. Case-mix adjusted, laboratory-specific odds ratios (ORs) for high- (grade III) versus low-grade (grade I-II) DCIS were obtained by multivariable logistic regression.

resultsOverall, 2954 DCIS reports from 31 laboratories were included. After feedback, the range between laboratories decreased by 22 and 6.5% for grades II and III, while an increase of 6.2% was observed for grade I. Both the mean ODS (27.2 to 24.1%) and maximum ODS (87.7 to 59.6%) decreased considerably. However, the range of case-mix adjusted ORs remained fairly stable and substantial (0.39 (95% CI: 0.18-0.86) to 3.69 (95% CI: 1.30-10.51)).

conclusionA promising decrease in grading variation was observed after laboratory-specific feedback for DCIS grades II-III, while this was not observed for DCIS grade I. Overall, grading variation remained substantial which needs to be addressed considering its clinical implications. Nationwide consensus on a classification, and training of (expert breast) pathologists, for example by e-learning, may help to further improve grading standardization.

Indexed as

Quality ImprovementBenchmarkingBreast NeoplasmsCarcinoma, Intraductal, NoninfiltratingFemaleHumansLaboratoriesNeoplasm GradingPathologistsPathology, SurgicalDCIS, ductal carcinoma in situ, histologic grade, patient management, laboratory-specific feedback, daily pathology practice

Identifiers

PMID32393303
PMCPMC7216330

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.