Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34273808›Full record

ArticleESMO open2021

Assessment of potential process quality indicators for systemic treatment of breast cancer in Belgium: a population-based study.

L van Walle, K Punie, E Van Eycken, E de Azambuja, H Wildiers, F P Duhoux, P Vuylsteke, A Barbeaux, N Van Damme, D Verhoeven

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in ESMO open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 50% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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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

10 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.

L van WalleBelgian Cancer Registry, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: lien.vanwalle@kankerregister.org.
K PunieDepartment of General Medical Oncology and Multidisciplinary Breast Centre, Leuven Cancer Institute, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
E Van EyckenBelgian Cancer Registry, Brussels, Belgium.
E de AzambujaDepartment of Medical Oncology, Institut Jules Bordet, Brussels, Belgium; Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium.
H WildiersDepartment of General Medical Oncology and Multidisciplinary Breast Centre, Leuven Cancer Institute, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
F P DuhouxDepartment of Medical Oncology, Institut Roi Albert II, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium.
P VuylstekeDepartment of Medical Oncology, CHU UCL Namur, Site Ste Elisabeth, Namur, Belgium; University of Botswana, Botswana, Belgium.
A BarbeauxDepartment of Medical Oncology, CHR Verviers East Belgium, Verviers, Belgium.
N Van DammeBelgian Cancer Registry, Brussels, Belgium.
D VerhoevenDepartment of Medical Oncology, AZ Klina, Brasschaat, Belgium; University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
KU Leuven · BECHR Verviers · BECliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc · BEUniversité Libre de Bruxelles · BEUniversity of Antwerp · BEUniversity of Botswana · BW

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundQuality indicators (QIs) for the management of breast cancer (BC) have been published in Europe and internationally. In Belgium, a task force was established to select measurable process indicators of systemic treatment for BC, focusing on appropriateness of delivered care. The objective of this study was to evaluate the results of the selected QIs, both nationally and among individual centres. PATIENTS AND

methodsFemale Belgian residents with unilateral primary invasive BC diagnosed between 2010 and 2014 were selected from the Belgian Cancer Registry database. The national number enabled linkage with the national reimbursement database, which contains information on all reimbursed medical procedures. A total of 12 process indicators were measured on the population and hospital level. Intercentre variability was assessed by median results and interquartile ranges.

resultsA total of 48  872 patients were included in the study. QIs concerning specific BC subtypes only applied to patients diagnosed in 2014 (n = 9855). Clinical stage (cStage) I patients (n = 17 116) were staged with positron emission tomography/computed tomography. Among patients who were pT1aN0 human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive (n = 47), 25.5% (n = 12) received adjuvant trastuzumab. Among patients with de novo metastatic luminal A/B-like HER2-negative BC (n = 295), 17.3% (n = 51) received upfront chemotherapy. (Neo)adjuvant chemotherapy was administered in 52.4% (n = 12 592) of operated women with cStage I-III, in 37.0% (n = 1270) of operated women with cStage I-III luminal A/B-like HER2-negative BC, and in 19.1% of operated women with cStage I luminal A/B-like HER2-negative BC. In the population of operated patients with cStage I-III, of those younger than 70 years that started adjuvant endocrine therapy (n = 3591), 81.7% (n = 2932) continued treatment for ≥4.5 years. Among patients in cStage I-III older than 70 years (n = 8544), 19.0% (n = 1622) received (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy, whereas among patients with cStage I-III luminal A/B-like HER2-negative BC (n = 1388), 13.0% (n = 181) received (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy. In patients with cStage I-II luminal A/B-like HER2-negative BC older than 70 years (n = 1477), 11.6% (n = 171) were not operated and received upfront endocrine treatment.

conclusionWell-considered QIs using population-based data can evaluate quality of care and expose disparities among treatment centres. Their use in daily practice should be implemented in all centres treating BC.

Indexed as

Breast NeoplasmsBelgiumChemotherapy, AdjuvantFemaleHumansQuality Indicators, Health CareTrastuzumabTrastuzumabbreast cancernational cancer registryovertreatmentpopulation-based dataquality indicatorsquality of caresystemic treatment

Identifiers

PMID34273808
PMCPMC8319479
OpenAlexW3182454230

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

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.