Eusoma/Abc Global Alliance Quality Indicators for Metastatic Breast Cancer Care

Quality of cancer care is fundamental for the achievement of optimal short and long term outcomes. The European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists (EUSOMA) has been conducting voluntary certification of dedicated breast cancer centres/units since 2000, following the definition and publication of the first requirements for forming high-quality breast cancer centres. This certification process is based on quality indicators or quality measures, also defined by EUSOMA, based on their reliability and validity. So far, EUSOMA has developed quality indicators mainly for early stage breast cancer.Metastatic/advanced breast cancer remains a virtually incurable disease. However, the latest years have seen important advances in this field, some of which with substantial impact on overall survival and quality of life for metastatic/advanced breast cancer patients. These improvements can only occur if adequate quality of care is implemented and verified, including access to multidisciplinary, specialized care, according to high-quality guidelines. To this purpose, EUSOMA and the Advanced Breast Cancer (ABC) Global Alliance joined efforts to develop the first set of quality indicators for metastatic/advanced breast cancer, that should be routinely measured and evaluated to confirm that breast cancer centres reach the requested standards in the care for patients with this disease. The present manuscript describes these quality indicators and their future implementation in the certification process.