Compliance with multidisciplinary team recommendations and disease outcomes in early breast cancer patients: An analysis of 4501 consecutive patients

BACKGROUND: Multidisciplinary team (MDT) discussions are widely held to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, but patient compliance with the MDT recommendations and the impact of compliance on disease outcome are uncertain. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of data from a prospective database of breast cancer patients treated at Shanghai Ruijin Hospital between April 2013 and August 2018. MDT discussions were held for all patients before they started adjuvant therapy. The patients were classified into compliant and non-compliant groups according to whether they received the MDT-recommended regimens. We also analyzed which clinicopathological factors were associated with compliance and prognosis. RESULTS: Of 4501 breast cancer patients, 3681 (81.8%) and 820 (18.2%) were included in the compliant and non-compliant groups, respectively. Age >70 years (P < 0.001), invasive ductal carcinoma (P < 0.001), and histological grade III (P = 0.011) were independently associated with higher risk of non-compliance, whereas Ki-67 labeling index ≥14% and history of benign breast disease were independently associated with compliance. Disease-free survival (hazard ratio [HR] 1.813, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.367–2.405, P < 0.001) and overall survival (HR 2.478, 95% CI 1.431–4.291, P < 0.001) were worse in the non-compliant group. CONCLUSIONS: Several clinicopathological factors were associated with non-compliance with MDT recommendations for early breast cancer patients. Non-compliance was associated with worse disease outcome.