tumor boards to discuss cases of cancer

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tastykake
tastykake Member Posts: 9
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I have not seen anyone on these message boards mention anything about having their "cancer treatment" discussed by a tumor board. I have colon cancer with mets to lungs & "possibly" liver. I go to Penn State Hershey oncology center in Pa. Each cancer has its own set of physicians here & after the colon Dr. read my CT scans the lung Drs met me & then they checked the CT scan. Every Tuesday they have tumor board meetings to discuss the treatment for all cancer patients. The colon Dr. doesn't think I have mets to the liver because the chemo-- I have had 5 of 12 folfox treatments has shrunk the lung mets to less than half the size they were & I had nothing in my liver before colon surgery-but the lung & liver Drs. seem to disagree. I am impatiently waiting to see what plan the board has made for me. Last I knew they said 2 more chemo then operate on lungs & liver. Has anyone had their treatment planned in this way? I understand this is a teaching hospital,but this seems a bit unusual.

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  • maglets
    maglets Member Posts: 2,576 Member
    #2
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    yes
    I live in a vary small city in Canada and yes my oncologist told me she meets with the tumour board in our hospital...she meets with the surgeons etc and that's they way they make decisions.

    mags
  • dianetavegia
    dianetavegia Member Posts: 1,942 Member
    #3
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    Like Mags
    I live in a very teeny town and go to an onc in a slightly larger town. He told me prior to chemo that he met with the tumor board prior to my treatment and after I completed chemo to decide follow up action. I was Stage III.
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    #4
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    dianetavegia said:

    Like Mags
    I live in a very teeny town and go to an onc in a slightly larger town. He told me prior to chemo that he met with the tumor board prior to my treatment and after I completed chemo to decide follow up action. I was Stage III.

    Don't know if they call it a "tumor board" or not
    but all decisions on me are/were made by onc,radiologist,and surgeon and I believe even my regular doctor (a lung specialist) was kept in the loop. Even tho I'm only doing chemo now I know onc is telling the others how I'm doing; last time I saw surgeon he mentioned email rec'd from onc on how things were going.....I'm quite satisfied so far with those trying to keep me here.....steve
  • mom_2_3
    mom_2_3 Member Posts: 953 Member
    #5
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    Tumor Board
    After my 2 rounds of chemo my oncologist presented me to the tumor board to determine the go/no-go for surgery. I saw her on a Monday and the board met the following day and the following week I was told I would be going into surgery in a week (colon/liver resection and HAI implanted). Both the colorectal and liver surgeon that operated on me were at the meeting with my oncologist.

    My oncologist treats colon cancer patients only and each of the surgeons has their specialty.
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #6
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    Yes
    I go to a large comprehensive cancer centre in a very large city (Toronto) + from the very first time I was referred there, my situation has been put before the tumour board. I am told that ~ 50 people comprise the tumour board - surgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists etc. My sister-in-law is an oncology nurse at another cancer centre + she told me this is very common. The advantage to this method is you get input from a large number of professionals, + hopefully they come up with the best plan for you.

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