Tumor Boards
Team Approach to Cancer Care
When people sit together, sharing thoughts and ideas, they can solve challenges more efficiently. That’s the concept behind the tumor boards.
A Tumor Board is a multidisciplinary group of medical experts who review new cancer cases and complex established cases. At LHCI, when you are newly diagnosed, our personalized care starts with an evaluation and treatment plan by the Tumor Board specializing in your particular type of cancer.
The Tumor Board considers your treatment options, taking into account your other medical conditions, personal goals, genetic makeup of your tumor, support services you may need, and much more. Our experts consider your pathology reports, radiology results, lab work, and other relevant medical information. If you need urgent care, you may be scheduled for treatment that very next day. LHCI’s Tumor Boards – specializing in areas such as breast cancer, brain cancer, genitourinary cancer, gynecologic cancers, head and neck cancer, liver cancer, colorectal cancer, and lung cancer – meet weekly or monthly. We also present monthly, quarterly, and biannual conferences for our experts to ensure our providers are up to date on the latest cancer findings, trends, and treatments.
Many other hospitals, including those in big cities, have generic tumor boards at which many different types of cancer may be discussed. But at Lahey Health, we believe the best treatment plans come from clinicians who are experienced in specific types of cancer and how best to approach treatment.
Our experts discuss and plan for your course of treatment and decide what other specialists should be involved. The goal is coordinated care and a fast path to the right treatment that will give you the best chance at a high quality of life afterwards.
With this team approach, our experts have just about seen it all, with experience treating the rarest forms of cancer as well as the most common cancers.
The Lahey Health Cancer Institute has cancer-specific tumor boards in these areas:
- Blood cancers
- Brain cancer
- Breast cancer
- Colorectal cancer and other gastrointestinal cancers
- Genitourinary cancer
- Head and neck cancer
- Lung cancer and other cancers of the chest
Tumor Boards have been around for some time now. The National Cancer Institute defines a Tumor Board as “a treatment planning approach in which a number of doctors who are experts in different specialties (disciplines) review and discuss the medical condition and treatment options of a patient. In cancer treatment, a tumor board review may include that of a medical oncologist (who provides cancer treatment with drugs), a surgical oncologist (who provides cancer treatment with surgery), and a radiation oncologist (who provides cancer treatment with radiation).”
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