Purpose: To report the initial experience of multidisciplinary meetings aiming at identifying the medical unmet needs, the gaps in the HCC patient pathway, and the concrete solutions to optimize the HCC management in several European countries.
Material and Methods: Nine international leaders in Interventional Oncology have been identified as ‘Ambassadors’ to conduct a prospective assessment in HCC care management in their respective country using a standardized approach. In their own country, each ‘Ambassador’ selected 10-15 experts having their main clinical commitment in HCC management in the following specialties: Interventional and Diagnostic Radiology, Medical Oncology, Gastro-Enterology/Hepatology, Liver Surgery, Radiation Oncology. They were invited to contribute in a 2 steps process as follows: 1) an interview on HCC care practices in their own institution,2) followed by one day in person meeting to establish a consensus on the priorities in terms of unmet need and patient pathway breakdown in order to co-create concrete proposals to fill the gaps.
Results: As of January 2020, the first national EXIOH meeting has been completed in Italy and revealed several unmet needs that will be turned into appropriate and concrete initiatives to be launched during the next months in collaboration with the board. At GEST, additional National EXIOH meetings will be completed and the results will be combined to create a transnational agenda toward optimizing the research/communication/education efforts on HCC treatment.
Conclusions: The EXIOH project will allow to tailor country-specific strategy aiming at enhancing the quality of care of HCC in Europe.
