03.08.2023
What is a tumour board, and what role does it play in cancer treatment? (INFORMATION FOR PATIENTS)
A tumour board is a group of qualified doctors and other health care providers who meet regularly to discuss unique and/or difficult cancer cases. The goal is to come up with the best treatment strategy for each individual patient. If you have a less common type of cancer that doesn't have a typical treatment, your case may be discussed. It may also be presented if your existing treatment isn't performing well.
The specialists on these boards all come from diverse medical backgrounds when it comes to cancer patient care, so they bring a variety of opinions to the table.
Understanding a patient's condition from several angles is an important aspect of determining the appropriate treatment plan in cancer therapy. It's for this reason that tumour boards are so important. Patients gain greatly from these meetings, even though most patients are unaware of the background process.
A review of recent research revealed a beneficial link between patients who were discussed and debated in site-specific multidisciplinary tumour boards and improved treatment results in terms of survival and local control of malignancies.
Preparing for tumour board meetings requires a lot of time and work when patient data is collected and inputed manually. There is also no easy way to track whether and how the agreed-upon decisions are put into effect. Relevant patient data resides in fragmented systems and inconsistent formats.
Clinicians do not have adequate time to gather patient information for tumour board preparation from all-kind of sources, such as: paper based medical records, pathology reports, lab results, imaging interpretations, visit and progression notes, etc.
Each tumour board meeting also involves time-consuming administration. The meeting must be organised and coordinated among oncologists, pathologists, surgeons and radiologists.
Studies show that digital tumour boards save time.
In the study by Richard D. Hammer et al., 441 Breast Tumour Board discussions were evaluated and there was a 27% reduction in discussion time using digital tumour boards. There was also a 20% reduction in discussion time specifically for Gastrointestinal Tumours.
Oncologists and healthcare professionals need the most precise and up-to-date patient information to accomplish their work, which is complicated and time-consuming. Hospitals must integrate several layers of patient data from many sources in order for these specialists to make the best treatment decisions. Finding all of the required data, much like making sense of it, can be difficult.
Studies show that prior standardisation saves preparation time.
In another study by Richard D. Hammer et al., 59 Breast Tumour Board preparation times were analysed and there was a 76% decrease in standard deviation (SD) in terms of preparation time (p=0.036).
The Oncochain platform collects all patient data in one place, from diagnosis, lab tests and imaging to every episode of treatment: systemic therapy, radiotherapy, surgery. Using metrics already complied from the Oncochain platform, physicians can select patients and send them over to a custom Oncochain Tumour board meeting. This is an easier and faster way to collect, review, and report tumour board discussions.
1. Save important time in tumour board preparation
2. Benefit from efficient data entry
3. Benefit from standardised patient history
4. Increase the number of discussed cases
5. Improve multidisciplinary team coordination and efficiency
6. Discover new insights using Oncochain Analytics
1. Review your patients using the Patient Dashboard
2. Create your Tumour Board and Edit Tumour Board Details (including video call links)
3. Select your patients for the Tumour Board Meeting
4. Review your Tumour Board to see included patients
5. Export your Tumour Board Resolutions as PDFs (can be printed out and added to your patient file)
Join us as we aim to improve the quality of oncological care by creating a framework to facilitate the collection of real-world data and provision of value-based care!
