Aim of Subgroup - 

The Malignancy of unknown origin (MUO) sub group will focus on the diagnosis and pathways for the diagnosis of MUO.

The broad aims of the UKAOS Subgroups are:

•  Knowledge creation and sharing to develop practice and improve the  quality of learning and teaching – action- finding, collating, organising, and distributing knowledge to Subgroup members and the wider health care community.

• Developing, validating, and disseminating best practice.

• Problem solving, bringing together expertise to focus on solving a         common problem, thus providing benefits to members and the               wider health care community.

• Innovation-review and highlight and disseminate new and emerging       areas of knowledge. Identify opportunities for innovation and         research.

Community

• The target membership are all members working with malignancy of unknown origin patients or pathways
• Core members include a representative from the following groups: AO CNS/ANP, medical oncologist, acute medic, non-specific symptoms service lead, geriatric /frailty, primary care and the trainee medic.
• The core group will have a representative from each of the 4 Nations
• Any member of UKAOS can join the group by contacting via the designated email via the UKAOS website
• Initially the group will meet every 4-6 weeks in 2024, and then moving in 2025 they will meet 3 monthly (with the aim to meet one month before the UKAOS board meetings)
• Group communication will be by email and Microsoft teams. Communications with the wider membership will be  via the website messages and/or email and via  UKAOS newsletter

Membership and structure Membership

This group is managed by a committee drawn from members of UKAOS

Chair -  Alison Taylor

Vice Chair – Dr Alia Alchawaf oncologist

Officers (chair and vice chair)  will serve a term of 2 years with the opportunity to be eligible to apply for one further 2-year term. New  officers will be elected from the wider group membership.

Membership:

The group will have representation from AO nurses and oncologists/NSS/   ED / MAU /  from the 4 nations. No member from Scotland at present -

 Membership is open to clinical and lay members with an interest in MUO

Meetings:

The community of all subgroup member will meet 3 monthly via TEAMS (with the aim to meet one month before the UKAOS board meetings)

Smaller groups of core members/officers will meet more frequently to work on project work and short task and finish group work as per the work plan.

Minutes of the MUO subgroup meetings can be found here ADD LINK to documents

Useful information and MUO subgroup meeting presentations can be found here Link in development

Decision making:

The Subgroup will make decisions by consensus of a quorate of at least four members. In the event of a vote being necessary the decision will be reached by a simple majority of members present, in person or by telephone. In the event of a tie, the Chairs will have a casting vote.

Group terms of reference and governance can be found at this link 

Reporting and communication:

• The Subgroup will be accountable for all its actions.

• The Subgroup will provide a verbal update (exception report) report to           the UKAOS board every 3 months. The Subgroup chair or deputy will be               co-opted to attend the board meeting.

•  The subgroup will provide a written annual report using a standardised           template and aligned with the UKAOS AGM process.

Workplan

The group are currently developing the workplan it will be added here once approved.

Current projects:

Emergency presentation of cancer survey

The UK Acute Oncology Society (UKAOS) Malignancy of unknown origin (MUO) subgroup are scoping how patients with MUO start their clinical journey from acute presentation to definitive management.  We know that:

• Diagnosis in the emergency setting is often associated with poor prognosis
• Patients are often diagnosed with advanced disease and may require urgent and appropriate symptom management
• Patient experience for this group tends to be poor

• There are often issues with lack of clear defined pathways and ownership of patients
• Acute Oncology Teams often support the MUO pathway and can provide advice and guidance for patients and clinicians can improve patient outcomes and experience
• This questionnaire is for all those hospitals that receive acute admissions. The aim is to scope MUO services and pathways across the England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

We invite you to complete the questionnaire using the following link   ►      https://forms.office.com/e/NLceLVNsun                               

  or QR code below:

We appreciate how busy everyone is, but we would be very grateful if you can complete the questionnaire.

Please feel free to forward to others contacts too.

Thank you for completing the questionnaire - if you have any questions, please email  ukaos@media1productions.co.uk

Alison Taylor     Acute Oncology Nurse Consultant    UKAOS MUO subgroup lead

Follow this link to see Alison Taylor 's presentation on MUO and CUP practice for the SAM webinar series 2024