A new study presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting suggests that integrated care teams can significantly reduce delays to treatment for breast cancer patients at safety net hospitals.

The research, led by Dr. Anna Kobzeva-Herzog, a general surgery resident at Boston University Medical Center, examined how a multidisciplinary breast cancer clinic (MBCC) model affected time-to-treatment outcomes. The study focused on 734 female patients diagnosed with breast cancer between January 2019 and September 2020, comparing those treated through the MBCC with patients managed via a traditional, serial care model.

“Prior research demonstrates that breast cancer patients from lower socioeconomic backgrounds face disproportionate delays between diagnosis and initial treatment,” Kobzeva-Herzog said. “This means that, potentially, their cancers may advance before treatment, leading to increased risks and poorer outcomes.”
The MBCC model consolidates visits across specialists — such as breast surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists, and pathologists — allowing patients to receive coordinated treatment recommendations during a single visit, with follow-up appointments streamlined across disciplines.

Findings showed that patients in the MBCC cohort began treatment on average 35 days after diagnosis, compared to 49.6 days for those in standard care. While no significant difference was observed in time to the first appointment overall, MBCC patients receiving chemotherapy as initial treatment saw reductions in both time to first appointment (10.2 vs. 18.1 days) and time to treatment (27.1 vs. 42.6 days).

Most patients in the MBCC group had invasive cancer (86.8%), and this cohort was slightly younger, averaging 55.7 years compared to 59.6 years in the traditional care group. The majority of patients were Black and insured through Medicaid.

Kobzeva-Herzog highlighted that multidisciplinary programs help address nonmedical barriers to care, such as transportation, childcare, and scheduling challenges. “A safety net hospital helps remove financial and insurance barriers,” she said. “Now, this study shows that multidisciplinary treatment may expedite care, potentially leading to better outcomes for an extremely vulnerable population.”

The authors emphasize the need for further research to determine whether the improvements are driven primarily by the MBCC model or by other patient and clinical factors.

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