Launching NETwerk: Diagnosis and Treatment of Neuroendocrine Tumors within a Multi-Institutional Collaboration in the Region of Antwerp-Waasland in Belgium

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Introduction: Centralizing cancer services is one way to improve global outcome for cancer patients but brings along that patients must be motivated to travel and that doctors of local hospitals get deprived of the diagnostic and treatment skills. The alternative way is to centrally coordinate cancer services across different hospitals. In this scenario, local multidisciplinary teams refer all patients to be discussed among cancer specialists. This continuous feed-back system also creates the opportunity to propose additional more specific and sensitive examinations for individual patients which would introduce the end of local substandard treatment.

Aim(s): The aim is to launch a horizontal hospital collaboration creating a Belgian network for neuroendocrine tumor patients called “NETwerk”.

Materials and methods: NET-specialists from nine different hospitals in Belgium provide optimal NET-management in a collaborative setting and according to ENETS guidelines. A NET-specific tumorboard operates by videoconferencing. Local teams enroll every NET-patient in “NETwerk” to be discussed. Subsequently, local caregivers receive feedback from the NET-specialists

Conference: 14th Annual ENETSConcerence (2017)

Presenting Author:

Authors: Lybaert W, Vandamme T, Simoens M, Abrams P, Demey W,

Keywords: quality, treatment plan, network,