Seeking second opinions in oncology: Adherence of standard of care among first doctors.

e20601 Background: Many people seek a second opinion to hear different opinions on the best treatment options and to learn more about the cancer. There are few reports on second-opinion seeking in oncology. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of patients to visit to a medical oncologist at Nippon Medical School Musashikosugi Hospital to seek a second opinion between December 2011 and October 2014. We (3 medical oncologists) independently evaluated adherence to standards of care among first doctors in 3 point scales: optimal, satisfactory and inadequate. If unanimous decision was not made, we built a consensus through discussions. We examined correlation between adherence of standards of care and hospital type (accredited hospital or non-accredited hospital for cancer care), outcome after second opinion (changed hospital or not) or primary site of cancer. Results: We reviewed charts for 223 patients. The median age was 53 years. Most patients were women (90.6%). The common primary sites were...