Multidisciplinary Oncology Consultations using Patient-centric Decision Support: Beyond Black-Box Systems

The project aims to improve cancer disease management, by targeting a principal decision-making instrument employed in current oncological care: the multidisciplinary oncology consultation.

The rationale for our approach is that to be relevant in multidisciplinary oncology consultations, clinical decision support systems should be multi-factorial (based on data coming from multiple disciplines), easy-to-use (allowing it to be integrated in the clinical workflow), and understandable (allowing interpretation for both the healthcare professional and the patient). The project is funded by the Brussels Institute for Research and Innovation (Innoviris).

The project consortium consists of six Brussels research groups and two companies. The research groups are from medical, engineering, psychology and business departments of Brussels universities

Oral Corticosteroid Use for the Treatment of Chronic Eosinophilic Disease: A Patient’s and His Physician’s Experience

This article, coauthored by a patient with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) initially presenting as severe eosinophilic asthma and his physician-specialist, discusses the use and management of oral corticosteroid (OCS) treatment. It also considers the importance of early diagnosis of a rare disease and patient education. The patient describes his journey from progressive worsening of asthma and eventual diagnosis of EGPA to long-term OCS treatment and then participation in a clinical trial for this rare disease, involving the introduction of targeted biologic therapy with OCS tapering. The physician describes the importance of patient referral to obtain a correct diagnosis and optimal maintenance treatment, the balance between risk of adverse events associated with long-term OCS use and benefits of disease control, and various aspects of patient participation in clinical trials. Finally, the patient describes the role of continual patient education in the management of disease and OCS treatment. These considerations can apply to all chronic inflammatory diseases requiring maintenance OCS treatment.