Optimizing the structure of interdisciplinary tumor boards for effective cancer care.

Introduction: Multi-professional interdisciplinary tumor boards (ITB) are essential institutions to discuss all newly diagnosed, relapsed or complex cancer patients in a team of specialists to find an optimal cancer care plan for each individual patient with regard to national and international clinical practice guidelines, patient´s preference and comorbidities. In a high-volume cancer center, entity-specific ITBs take place at least once a week discussing a large number of patients. To a high level of expertise and dedication, this also requires an enormous amount of time for physicians, cancer specialists and administrative support colleagues, especially for radiologists, pathologists, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists, who must attend all cancer-specific boards according to certification requirements. Methods: In this 15-month prospective German single-center analysis, we examined the established structures of 12 different cancer-specific ITBs at the certified Oncology Center and demonstrate tools helping to optimize processes before, during and after the boards for optimal, time-saving procedures. Results: By changing pathways, introducing revised registration protocols and new digital supports we could show that the workload of preparation by radiologists and pathologists could be reduced significantly by 22.9% (p=<0.0001) and 52.7% (p=<0.0001), respectively. Furthermore, two questions were added to all registration forms about the patient´s need for specialized palliative care support that should lead to more awareness and early integration of specialized help. Discussion: There are several ways to reduce the workload of all ITB team members while maintaining high quality recommendations and adherence to national and international guidelines.

Case Report: Collapsing Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis After Initiation of Ado-Trastuzumab Emtansine Therapy.

Ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) is an antibody-drug conjugate consisting of the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab linked to the maytansinoid DM1 with potential antineoplastic activity and is approved for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer. An analysis of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System identified 124/1,243 (10%) renal adverse events for trastuzumab. However, there are no published case reports describing kidney biopsy findings related to nephrotoxicity of either trastuzumab or T-DM1. We report kidney biopsy findings in a case of nephrotic range proteinuria due to collapsing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and tubular injury after initiation of T-DM1 therapy. After systematic exclusion of other causes, it is likely that the observed collapsing FSGS was associated with the prior initiation of T-DM1 therapy. This is further supported by the clinical course with improvement of proteinuria and kidney function 3 weeks after discontinuation of T-DM1 therapy without further specific treatment. In summary, we provide the first report of kidney biopsy findings in a case of nephrotic range proteinuria after initiation of T-DM1 therapy due to collapsing FSGS. This issue is especially relevant since T-DM1 is widely used, and nephrologists have to be aware of this potentially rare but severe complication.