One in Three Gastric Cancer Patients Changed Treatment Direction After Multidisciplinary Care

Seong Paul of the Southeast Regional Radiation Medicine Center
Multidisciplinary Care for Gastric Cancer Proven to Have Positive Effects on Patient Treatment

Seong Paul, Chief of Gastrointestinal Surgery at the Southeast Regional Radiation Medicine Center, has announced the results of a study analyzing the effectiveness of multidisciplinary care in treating gastric cancer patients and the need to establish criteria for patient group selection.

This study, titled "Appropriateness of Multidisciplinary Care in Gastric Cancer Assessment from a Surgeon’s Perspective: A Retrospective Cohort Study," was published in the April 2025 issue of the Journal of the Korean Surgical Society. The first author is Seong Paul, and the corresponding author is Professor Yoo Moonwon of the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery at Asan Medical Center in Seoul.

Multidisciplinary care involves specialists from various fields, such as surgery, internal medicine, and radiology, discussing treatment directions together with patients and their caregivers. This approach is known to offer several advantages, including accurate diagnosis, consensus on treatment methods, reduced time to treatment decisions, and improved patient survival rates.

Seong Paul analyzed 142 gastric cancer patients who received multidisciplinary care at Asan Medical Center in Seoul from December 2015 to January 2023. As a result, 29% (41 patients) had their initial treatment plans changed following multidisciplinary discussions, while 71% (101 patients) continued with their original plans.

Seong Paul stated, "For one-third of the patients, the direction of treatment changed through multidisciplinary care, confirming its effectiveness." He also pointed out, "However, some patients whose treatment plans did not change may have undergone unnecessary multidisciplinary care." He emphasized, "Since a significant amount of human and material resources are invested, it is urgent to establish criteria for selecting patient groups to ensure efficient operation."

Currently, although the treatment guidelines of the Korean Gastric Cancer Association mention multidisciplinary care, there are no detailed criteria for patient selection.

The Southeast Regional Radiation Medicine Center is actively implementing multidisciplinary care for major cancers, including gastric cancer, and is particularly focused on optimizing patient selection and care models for patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Seong Paul, Chief of Gastrointestinal Surgery at the Southeast Regional Radiation Medicine Center.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.