TY - JOUR
T1 - European neuro-oncology quality assessment (ENOQUA)
T2 - A European organization for the research and treatment of cancer (EORTC) brain tumor group research project
AU - Razis, Evangelia
AU - Gorlia, Thierry
AU - Preusser, Matthias
AU - Daisne, Jean-François
AU - Vanopdenbosch, Ludo
AU - Roth, Patrick
AU - Mair, Maximilian J
AU - Gross, Markus Wolfram
AU - Espeli, Vittoria
AU - Kazda, Tomas
AU - Bruna, Jordi
AU - Di Cristofori, Andrea
AU - Lombardi, Giuseppe
AU - Valeinis, Egils
AU - Brandsma, Dieta
AU - Malmstrom, Annika
AU - Brandal, Petter
AU - Azevedo, Ana
AU - Keric, Naureen
AU - Lohmann, Philipp
AU - Vernadou, Anastasia
AU - Baumert, Brigitta Gertrud
AU - Andratschke, Nicolaus
AU - Weller, Michael
AU - de Vos, Filip
AU - Hau, Peter
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
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PY - 2026/6
Y1 - 2026/6
N2 - Background: The care of patients with brain tumors is a complex task that requires quality standards and quality assurance indicators. In the present study, several quality indicators were evaluated in routine clinical care. Methods: The EORTC Brain Tumor Group (BTG) developed quality indicators from published guidelines and tested them in 19 BTG sites across Europe. Each site extracted data from the files of 20 randomly selected glioblastoma patients diagnosed in 2018. Associations between quality indicators, site characteristics and median overall survival (mOS) were examined. Results: A total of 364 patient files were evaluated at 19 sites. Excellent compliance was observed in the documentation of neuropathology report with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) status (92.0%), O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase promoter methylation (MGMT) status (78.0%), multidisciplinary case discussion (95.3 %), extent of resection (87.1%), and radiotherapy details (96.9%) as well as consent to chemotherapy (75.5%). Performance was not as good for early postoperative MRI (67.2%), psycho-oncological care (40.5%), avoiding antineoplastic therapy in the last weeks of life (63.1%) and early referral to palliative services (23.5%). Timely start of radiotherapy (P = .0153), the presence of a radiotherapy report in the medical record (P = .0077), and patient education on oral chemotherapy (P = .0002) were positively associated with mOS, while early referral to palliative care was associated with shorter mOS (P < .0001). Conclusions: The quality indicators tested in this research project performed with some variability between sites. Significant associations between individual quality indicators and mOS were observed. The proposed quality indicators should be validated prospectively.
AB - Background: The care of patients with brain tumors is a complex task that requires quality standards and quality assurance indicators. In the present study, several quality indicators were evaluated in routine clinical care. Methods: The EORTC Brain Tumor Group (BTG) developed quality indicators from published guidelines and tested them in 19 BTG sites across Europe. Each site extracted data from the files of 20 randomly selected glioblastoma patients diagnosed in 2018. Associations between quality indicators, site characteristics and median overall survival (mOS) were examined. Results: A total of 364 patient files were evaluated at 19 sites. Excellent compliance was observed in the documentation of neuropathology report with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) status (92.0%), O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase promoter methylation (MGMT) status (78.0%), multidisciplinary case discussion (95.3 %), extent of resection (87.1%), and radiotherapy details (96.9%) as well as consent to chemotherapy (75.5%). Performance was not as good for early postoperative MRI (67.2%), psycho-oncological care (40.5%), avoiding antineoplastic therapy in the last weeks of life (63.1%) and early referral to palliative services (23.5%). Timely start of radiotherapy (P = .0153), the presence of a radiotherapy report in the medical record (P = .0077), and patient education on oral chemotherapy (P = .0002) were positively associated with mOS, while early referral to palliative care was associated with shorter mOS (P < .0001). Conclusions: The quality indicators tested in this research project performed with some variability between sites. Significant associations between individual quality indicators and mOS were observed. The proposed quality indicators should be validated prospectively.
U2 - 10.1093/nop/npaf103
DO - 10.1093/nop/npaf103
M3 - Article
C2 - 42131752
SN - 2054-2577
VL - 13
SP - 518
EP - 527
JO - Neuro-Oncology Practice
JF - Neuro-Oncology Practice
IS - 3
ER -