Patient participation in multidisciplinary tumour conferences in breast cancer care (PINTU): a mixed-methods study protocol

摘要

IntroductionA central instrument of multidisciplinary care is the multidisciplinary tumour conference (MTC). In MTCs, diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients are discussed, and therapy recommendations are worked out. As we found previously, patients participate in MTCs in some breast cancer centres in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. However, studies on risks and benefits of patient participation have not provided substantiated findings. Therefore, the study’s objective is to analyse differences between MTCs with and without patient participation.