Clinical trial NCT05007639: A Public Health Intervention Program to Improve the Initial Management of Soft Tissue Sarcomas.
Official title: A Public Health Intervention Program to Improve the Initial Management of Soft Tissue Sarcomas.
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Sarcoma
Keywords: publich health intervention programme
Lead sponsor: Institut Bergonié
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2021-08-16
Enrollment: 274
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: All adult patients (≥18 years old) diagnosed between 1 November 2006 and 31 December 2009 in the Aquitaine and Midi-Pyrénées administrative districts in South-West France (6 million inhabitants, 10% of the French population) with primary STS of any stage were included.

Brief summary: Sarcomas are rare tumours that represent less than 1% of cancers. Their actual incidence in France, however, is not known. The chances of survival at 5 years, without signs of the disease, are currently estimated at about 60%. The possibility of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) is frequently unrecognised, leading to an inappropriate initial diagnostic process and often to inadequate surgery. Compliance with good practice guides, which we can recall were targeted at oncologists, is good when the patient's record is discussed within the framework of a multidisciplinary consultation. The consequences of inadequate initial management, however, can be critical: unplanned surgery results in the need for systematic repeat procedure, with residual tumour found in more than half of cases, and the absence of multidisciplinary care has a deleterious impact on local disease control and specific survival.

The objective of the study is to measure the impact of a public health intervention programme focused on the initial management of STS among all professionals who may come to suspect or diagnose soft tissue sarcoma. For this project, the 4 regions involved in the Cancéropôle du Grand Sud-Ouest, France (Aquitaine, Languedoc-Roussillon, Limousin and Midi-Pyrénées) propose to implement actions targeted at general practitioners, treating physicians and non-specialist surgeons in the field of STS, aimed at improving initial care.

An improvement in initial management (diagnosis and assessment) which should allow an improvement in the loco-regional control of these diseases and in the specific survival of the patients. The actions recognised as effective in this study could then be adapted and extended to the rest of France via the French sarcomas group and the bone tumours study group (GSF-GETO).

Detailed description: Background: Sarcomas are rare tumours that represent less than 1% of cancers. Their actual incidence in France, however, is not known. The chances of survival at 5 years, without signs of the disease, are currently estimated at about 60%. The possibility of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) is frequently unrecognised, leading to an inappropriate initial diagnostic process and often to inadequate surgery. Compliance with good practice guides, which we can recall were targeted at oncologists, is good when the patient's record is discussed within the framework of a multidisciplinary consultation. The consequences of inadequate initial management, however, can be critical: unplanned surgery results in the need for systematic repeat procedure, with residual tumour found in more than half of cases, and the absence of multidisciplinary care has a deleterious impact on local disease control and specific survival.

Objectives: The objective of the study is to measure the impact of a public health intervention programme focused on the initial management of STS among all professionals who may come to suspect or diagnose soft tissue sarcoma. For this project, the 4 regions involved in the Cancéropôle du Grand Sud-Ouest, France (Aquitaine, Languedoc-Roussillon, Limousin and Midi-Pyrénées) propose to implement actions targeted at general practitioners, treating physicians and non-specialist surgeons in the field of STS, aimed at improving initial care.

Outline: This is a "before and after (the intervention programme)" study with a "control" group (Nantes region with multidisciplinary "sarcoma" consultation meetings organised, but where no specific intervention shall be made).

Course the intervention: The programme shall combine 3 actions: a simple dissemination of information via the regional Unions of private practice physicians and the local correspondents of the regional networks (action 1), an action in the form of oral communication during regional meetings of professionals (action 2) and an action focused on each surgeon for whom the pathologist has diagnosed soft tissue sarcoma (action 3).

Study size: It is assumed that the proposed programme shall serve to measure a 35% improvement in the proportion of adequate care (70% with intervention versus 35%). To take into account in the analysis of potential clusters of practices (professionals with similar medical practices), the number of subjects was increased to 60 observations per study phase (before/after). The results of the "Before the intervention" study should enable us to adjust the number of subjects to take into account any cluster effects, which cannot be estimated as it is, while taking into account the feasibility since these are rare tumours.

Endpoints: For each patient, the main analyses shall focus on different care quality endpoints, in particular those relating to the initial diagnosis and initial surgery stages. The elements of these endpoints shall be collected in health establishments and pathology laboratories in the regions involved.

Impacts and perspectives: An improvement in initial management (diagnosis and assessment) which should allow an improvement in the loco-regional control of these diseases and in the specific survival of the patients. The actions recognised as effective in this study could then be adapted and extended to the rest of France via the French sarcomas group and the bone tumours study group (GSF-GETO).

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Primary soft-tissue sarcoma (STS)
* any stage

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients with visceral, bone, uterus or Kaposi's sarcoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, or mesotheliomas

Primary outcomes:
measure: Adherence Rate to Diagnosis Imaging Guidelines for Patients With a Deep Sarcoma Tumor (Before Implementation of the Public Health Intervention Programme.
timeFrame: Assessed at surgery
measure: Adherence Rate to Diagnosis Imaging Guidelines for Patients With a Superficial Sarcoma Tumor (Before Implementation of the Public Health Intervention Programme)
timeFrame: Assessed at surgery
measure: Adherence Rate to Diagnosis Technique (Biopsy) Guidelines for Patients With Deep Tumors Over 5 cm in Size or Tumors <5 cm Increasing in Size (Before Implementation of the Public Health Intervention Programme)
timeFrame: Assessed up to 2 months following diagnosis
measure: Adherence Rate to Discussion in Multidisciplinary Team Meeting (Before Implementation of the Public Health Intervention Programme)
timeFrame: Assessed up to 2 months prior to biopsy
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
Study officials:
affiliation: Institut Bergonié, COmprehensive Cancer Center, Bordeaux, France
name: Simone MATHOULIN-PELISSIER, MD, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Mathoulin-Pelissier S, Chevreau C, Bellera C, Bauvin E, Saves M, Grosclaude P, Albert S, Goddard J, Le Guellec S, Delannes M, Bui BN, Mendiboure J, Stoeckle E, Coindre JM, Kantor G, Kind M, Cowppli-Bony A, Hoppe S, Italiano A. Adherence to consensus-based diagnosis and treatment guidelines in adult soft-tissue sarcoma patients: a French prospective population-based study. Ann Oncol. 2014 Jan;25(1):225-31. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdt407. Epub 2013 Nov 26.