Multidisciplinary care of patients with lung cancer is performed by a comprehensive group of professionals including medical oncologists, pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons, radiation oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians, palliative care physicians, oncology pharmacists, lung cancer nurses, and cancer care coordinators.
During the Monday, August 8, Oral Abstract Session, “Multidisciplinary Care of the Lung Cancer Patient,” WCLC attendees will hear presentations relevant to this multidisciplinary care team. The session will begin at 11:00 in Strauss 3 and will be available on-demand within 24 hours of the live presentation.
“Multidisciplinary care has been shown to significantly shorten the interval from diagnosis to treatment, allowing the treatment plan to be optimized,” said session co-moderator Sun Min Lim, MD, of Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
“It may substantially reduce the time of patients’ consultation and improve the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment. The need to visit subsequent departments by patients may be diminished, and treatment decisions are provided more promptly,” Dr. Lim said. “More importantly, multidisciplinary care has been shown to improve overall survival and quality of life, particularly in stage III and IV lung cancer patients.”

Multidisciplinary Care of the Lung Cancer Patient
- Time: 11:00-12:00 CEST
- Date: Monday, August 8
- Location: Strauss 3
The session will include the presentation of four oral abstracts:
- “Do in Screening—Calf Circumference and Muscle Strength is Predictive of Outcomes in Lung Cancer Treatment” (OA08.03) from Imanuely Borchardt and colleagues.
- “The Impact of Video-fluoroscopic Swallow Assessment on Dysphagia Management in Lung Cancer” (OA08.04) from Ashton Brower and colleagues
- “A Quality Improvement Project Determining if Dietitian Input with the UHS Lung Oncology Team Improved Patient Outcomes” (OA08.05) from Ann-Marie Jones and colleagues
- “Implementation of a Nurse-led Geriatric Oncology Assessment Model in the Lung Cancer Pathway” (OA08.06) from Polly H. Dufton and colleagues.
All the presentations will include important data on the multidisciplinary care of a patient with lung cancer; however, Dr. Lim is particularly looking forward to the closing abstract on geriatric oncology.
“This is because our society is older than ever, and octogenarian patients are commonly diagnosed with lung cancer today,” Dr. Lim said. “We cannot apply the same treatment algorithm in these patients as we do with younger patients. Therefore, implementing a geriatric oncology assessment model is required in clinical settings.”
This session is part of the meeting’s Nursing and Allied Health Professionals track as a reflection of the important role these providers play in lung cancer care, and to emphasize that nursing and allied health professionals should be better involved in the multidisciplinary care of lung cancer patients, according to Dr. Lim.
“Nurses and allied health professionals are usually excluded from making treatment decisions for the patients in the multidisciplinary team approach, and patients are not well-aware of their efforts and roles in their treatment journey through lung cancer,” Dr. Lim said.
The session will conclude with a question-and-answer session and discussion to help put the results of the abstracts into perspective.