Identification of Clinical Variation of Interest in Standard of Care Practice in a Statewide Bench Marking Audit of Brain Tumor Patient Care.

BACKGROUND

The Victorian Tumour Summits are an initiative to engage clinicians and consumers in identifying unwarranted variations in cancer care across the state. The Brain Tumour Summit reviewed the epidemiology, treatment, and outcomes of brain tumor patients for this purpose in 2020.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of Victorian brain cancer patients diagnosed between 2013 and 2017 was performed using linked Department of Health administrative datasets including the Victorian Cancer Registry; the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset; Victorian Radiotherapy Minimum Data Set; Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset; and Victorian/National Death Index.

RESULTS

A total of 2182 brain cancer patients were included, with a median age of 62 years and male predominance (59%). Most were histologically confirmed (90%). The largest group was glioblastoma (64%) followed by lower grade astrocytomas (14%) and oligodendrogliomas (5%). Nearly all surgery was undertaken in tertiary metropolitan sites regardless of patients' region of residence. Most high-grade glioma patients subsequently received radiotherapy. Radiotherapy for all glioma patients was mostly (75%) delivered by local health service providers. Data regarding oral chemotherapy were not available.

CONCLUSIONS

Victorian patients had comparable outcomes across different regions, which are consistent with the published literature. The Summit identified three key areas of improvement that could improve patient outcomes and experience: identifying causes of variation in length of hospital stay after surgery and reducing length of stay where appropriate; harmonization of time to start radiotherapy across regional and metropolitan centers; and improved access to palliative care planning and utilization.