Compliance with quality assurance measures in patients treated for early oral tongue cancer

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to identify measurable parameters that provide quality data for assessing how well cancer care adheres to accepted treatment guidelines and is delivered to any given patient with oral tongue cancer. METHODS: A retrospective chart review included 116 patients treated for T1-T2/N0-N1 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral tongue between 1998 and 2003. A set of quality measures considered critical for outcome included: 1) accurate TNM staging at presentation, 2) documentation of margin status, 3) appropriate referral for adjuvant radiation therapy, and 4) neck dissection for depth of invasion >4 mm. In addition, 26 clinical endpoints involving pretreatment assessment, staging, treatment, surveillance, and symptom control were analyzed. RESULTS: Patients comprised 73 men and 43 women (median age, 57 years). Forty-one (35.3%) patients presented with stage I disease, 61 (52.6%) with stage II, and 14 (12.1%) with stage III. The overall 5-year survival rate for all patients was 68.6%. There was a 90.5% compliance with TNM staging at presentation, 99.1% for documentation of margin status, 98.2% for adequate referral to radiation therapy, and 88.7% for appropriate neck dissection based on depth of invasion. Compliance with clinical endpoints was variable and ranged from 100% for endpoints related to radiation therapy to <40% for endpoints related to speech pathology and rehabilitation. CONCLUSIONS: Overall compliance with documenting the 4 parameters designated as quality measures for treatment of oral tongue SCC was acceptable, thus demonstrating that it is possible to use these data for measuring effective cancer care.