From the moment cancer is diagnosed, treatment decisions depend on factors such as cancer type, stage, blood tests, imaging studies, biopsy results, a patient’s overall health, and personal and family medical history.
Each element provides important information, but no single test or result tells the full story. To ensure you receive the best possible treatment, your cancer doctor may consult specialists across oncology and other healthcare disciplines.
At most modern hospitals and surgical centers, including The Surgical Clinic in Nashville, TN, this collaboration occurs through a multidisciplinary tumor board that reviews new and complex cancer cases. We know it may be confusing to hear your care is discussed by providers you haven’t met, but tumor boards greatly benefit you and your primary team.
In honor of Cancer Prevention Month in February, the surgical oncology team at The Surgical Clinic in Nashville hopes to help patients better understand why a multidisciplinary tumor board is an important and often necessary part of modern cancer care planning.
Key Takeaways
A multidisciplinary tumor board is a team of oncology experts who review complex cancer cases to ensure treatment recommendations are coordinated and informed by the complete clinical picture. These meetings are a crucial part of modern cancer care and offer many benefits for patients, including improved outcomes.
What Is a Multidisciplinary Tumor Board?
Multidisciplinary tumor boards, sometimes called multidisciplinary cancer conferences, are meetings where medical experts from different areas of cancer care come together to review cancer cases and strategize the most effective care plan.
A tumor board does not take decision-making authority away from you or your primary doctors. Rather, it provides structured time for your doctors to collaborate with specialists to ensure you receive the most comprehensive and coordinated treatment plan.
While not every cancer patient’s case is reviewed by a tumor board, they are widely recognized as an important component of modern cancer care and crucial for providing comprehensive care for complex diagnoses.
Who Participates in a Multidisciplinary Tumor Board?
The word “multidisciplinary” refers to more than one area of healthcare, which means many types of cancer experts may be part of a tumor board.
The team varies by patient, but always addresses all aspects of cancer care, from diagnosis to support.
Tumor Board Core Members
Core members are the essential team of specialists who commonly serve on a tumor board to ensure continuity, efficiency, and consistent, evidence-based decision-making.
Core members may differ based on the hospital or surgical center, but generally include:
- Surgeons / Surgical oncologists
- Medical oncologists
- Radiation oncologists
- Radiologists
- Pathologists
- Case manager/coordinator
Additional Tumor Board Specialists Who May Participate
Depending on the case, other professionals may offer insights into supportive care, risk factors, or coordination.
Additional participants may include:
- Specialized oncology surgeons (based on the type and location of the cancer)
- Subspecialist physicians (based on the type and location of the cancer)
- Nurse practitioners/ Physician’s assistants
- Nurses
- Genetic experts
- Pharmacists
- Psychologists
- Social workers
- Nutritionists
- Physical therapists
Most tumor board members review cases without meeting you. This enables collaborative care without you having to see each specialist.
Your cancer care team is the providers and staff you interact with directly. This often includes your surgeon or oncologist, along with nurses, advanced practice providers, and care coordinators who help guide appointments, explain next steps, and support you through treatment.
Certain members of your cancer care team may serve on the tumor board. Others you see regularly may not participate in the tumor board discussion but still play an essential role in delivering and coordinating your care.
Can I Attend My Multidisciplinary Tumor Board Meeting?
Patients typically do not attend tumor board meetings because they are intended for detailed clinical discussion among healthcare professionals. This isn’t to keep information from a patient; it is due to legal, logistical, and professional constraints.
For starters, the board discusses multiple patient cases. If the meeting is open to observers, it could raise HIPAA privacy concerns. These discussions are also very technical, which could cause confusion and unnecessary anxiety for patients.
Not attending a tumor board does not mean you are left in the dark about what was discussed or excluded from decision-making.
Your doctor will explain the tumor board’s recommendations and discuss how the plan fits your goals, preferences, and health.
How Team Collaboration Works: What Happens During a Tumor Board Meeting?
During a tumor board meeting, your doctor presents your case to specialists from different areas of oncology. This presentation typically includes a review of the diagnosis, cancer stage, imaging studies, laboratory and biopsy results, surgical pathology findings, and relevant personal and family medical history.
Each specialist contributes insight from their area of expertise. This may include discussion of established treatment options, current clinical research, or evolving approaches to care. If treatment involves more than one modality, the discussion often focuses on how different therapies may work together and whether the timing or sequence of treatment matters.
Based on this review, the board may recommend surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, intraoperative radiation therapy, immunotherapy, or targeted therapies. Sometimes, further testing or evaluation is needed before finalizing a plan.
Your doctor reviews these recommendations with you, explains how they suit your health and goals, and answers questions.
Some cancer cases are reviewed by a tumor board once, particularly when the diagnosis and treatment path are clear. In other situations, a case may return to the tumor board as treatment progresses or new information arises, such as updated imaging or changes in how the cancer responds.
What Is the Benefit of a Multidisciplinary Approach to Cancer?
A team approach offers many benefits in how cancer treatment decisions are made and how patients experience care, especially when diagnoses are complex or involve multiple options.
Key Benefits of a Team-Based Cancer Care Plan
More Accurate Diagnosis and Staging
Reviewing imaging, pathology, and test results as a team helps ensure the cancer type and stage are clearly understood before treatment begins. This multidisciplinary review is critical for choosing the most appropriate clinical approach.
Improved Communication and Fewer Missed Details
Cancer care involves many different tests and reports. Reviewing all medical reports in real time helps reduce communication gaps between specialties. This structural oversight reduces the risk that important clinical information will be missed as care decisions proceed.
Quality and Safety Oversight
A multidisciplinary tumor board adds an extra layer of review, helping identify potential gaps and confirm key details before treatment begins. Having multiple experts review a plan supports safer, more reliable care and reduces the risk of errors.
Stronger Treatment Planning
Specialists’ joint review brings multiple perspectives to recommendations, ensuring plans are balanced and appropriate for complex cases.
Access to Specialized Expertise
Each specialist on the board brings deep knowledge of their specific field, including awareness of the latest treatment advances. This review can surface newer therapies or clinical trials that might not be considered without specialist input.
Better Coordination Across Treatments
For patients needing various therapies, multidisciplinary planning coordinates treatments, sequences them well, and integrates care beyond isolated approaches.
Faster and More Organized Care
When specialists review a case together, treatment decisions can be aligned sooner. This allows the patient’s care to move forward more quickly and in a more organized manner.
Comprehensive, Patient-Centered Support
Tumor boards consider supportive needs beyond medical treatment, creating care plans tailored to your health and circumstances.
Improved Long-Term Outcomes
Coordinated expertise leads to more precise treatment, which increases the likelihood of better disease control. Research indicates that this approach is associated with higher survival rates and a reduced risk of cancer recurrence.
What Does Research Show About Multidisciplinary Tumor Boards?
Multidisciplinary tumor boards have been studied across many cancer types and care settings to better understand how collaborative review affects patient care.
While a tumor board cannot guarantee better outcomes, research consistently shows that when a multidisciplinary team reviews complex cancer cases, care decisions tend to be more accurate, better coordinated, and more closely aligned with established treatment guidelines.
Across multiple studies, multidisciplinary tumor board review has also been associated with improved clinical outcomes for patients with complex cancers. Patients whose cases were reviewed by a tumor board were more likely to experience longer periods of disease control, higher survival rates in certain cancer types, and a reduced risk of cancer progression or recurrence.
Final Thoughts
If you have any concerns or confusion about why your cancer case may be discussed with healthcare professionals outside your primary care team, we hope this article has given you peace of mind.
Cancer is not like many other medical conditions. It is complex, and treatment planning often is as well. Your doctor consulting with a multidisciplinary tumor board is not a sign that they are unsure or unequipped to care for you.
When knowledgeable medical experts from every relevant area of your diagnosis come together, it helps ensure important details are not overlooked, strengthens the care you receive, and is often linked to better long-term results for patients with complex cancer diagnoses.
At The Surgical Clinic in Nashville, collaboration is an essential part of our approach to cancer care. Our multidisciplinary tumor board brings together experienced specialists across multiple areas of oncology who always have your individual needs and best interests in mind.
If you have questions about the tumor board process or whether a multidisciplinary team will review your case, we encourage you to talk with your cancer care team about how collaborative review fits into your care.
Sources
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7533227/
https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/PO-24-00387
https://www.cancertherapyadvisor.com/news/tumor-boards-prolong-cancer-patient-survival/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41698-025-00865-1 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1936523324002511https://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/PO.20.00495