A tumor board is a review meeting made up of specialized cancer doctors and multidisciplinary health care specialists who gather to discuss cancer cases that are challenging. The objective of a tumor board case review is to decide as a group of doctors on the best possible treatment plan for a patient. If a case is of a rare and less frequently seen type of cancer, it is possible it might be discussed by the tumor board to decide on the best course of treatment. Also if the cancer treatment isn’t giving the expected results then the tumor board might want to discuss it
Tumor Boards are multidisciplinary team meetings where different specialists in hospitals such as the Onco Life multispecialty hospital in Chiplun are able to jointly take clinical decisions in cancer care. Depending on the type of cancer discussed, the makeup of the team would be different for each tumor board case review.
Onco-Life is one of the few multispecialty hospitals in Chiplun and within the country which is affiliated with TATA Memorial Hospital under NCG. The reason for setting up the Virtual Tumour board is to deal with those few cases which are complicated and highly critical. Every week, our doctors from each specialty sit together and discuss those cases, present their viewpoints and plan the best course of treatment.
Although tumor boards can be constituted to review any type of cancer case, they are usually reserved for cases where standard treatments options are exhausted and new treatment options are sought, as well as for patients with rare tumor types for which there may not be a standard course of treatment.
In the Onco-Life Virtual Tumour Board, doctors from major hospitals in India come together via Video Conference and discuss various complicated cases. Onco-Life Cancer Centre as one of the best multispecialty hospitals in Chiplun is a part of the national network of cancer hospitals participating in this initiative. We ensure our best cancer doctors present highly critical and complicated cases of our patients in the tumor board so that we can get a better perspective and knowledge on that particular case. This helps our valued patients get the benefit of a nationwide expert consultation by just being under our care.
The Virtual Tumor Board (VTB) is comprised of a group of expert surgeons, radiation oncologists, pathologists, and medical oncologists who gather to discuss treatment options for individual cancer patients and provide unique, personalized treatment plans close to home. Specialists including radiologists and pathologists gather and evaluate a wide variety of information that influences a patient’s diagnosis and treatment.
While medical records provide a lot of information, a specialist benefits from hearing what the other attending doctors at the tumor board think about your condition. As pathologists are responsible for making the diagnosis, in a tumor board discussion, a pathologist might:
- Recommend additional testing on your tissue sample: Modern technology enables us to preserve sample tissue from which the pathologist can perform additional new tests even weeks or months later to better predict which treatment would be effective.
- Assist the tumor board to decide any additional treatment that might be required after a surgery. For example radiation therapy or chemotherapy.
All patients have the right to be active, informed participants in their health care so do not be afraid to ask your doctor if your case warrants a discussion at a tumor board. In most cases a cancer patient’s diagnosed disease is usually straightforward enough to be treated using standard treatment methods available at good cancer care centres such as the Onco Life multispecialty hospital in Chiplun, your attending doctor might feel a virtual tumor board review is not needed. However, as a patient you can always speak to your doctor to request that a case review be done.
One of the unique and best things about the Onco Life multispecialty hospital in Chiplun is that we are affiliated to the virtual tumor board partnership with Tata Memorial under NCG. We review patient cases with cancer-specific oncologists to make sure that we formulate an optimal plan for patients based on their own individual needs.
A virtual tumor board can recommend and determine the best way to implement the treatment plan designed specifically for you such as how to manage patient transportation or deciding the best schedule for your treatment.
Having the best cancer doctors share their ideas and thoughts in the same room so that the patient’s treatment gets the benefit of all of their different and specialized knowledge, brings a fresh perspective and expertise to the process of deciding on the best course of your cancer treatment plan.
