• Tumor specialists (medical oncologists) are often consulted at this stage. So are surgeons or specialists
in radiotherapy .
• The most recent medical literature can be reviewed, perhaps along with a computer search of your disease via a database like PDQ ( see "Access to Cancer Information" ).
• Physicians and specialists attend many of the hundreds of cancer meetings that take place every year where
important research findings and other cancer information are presented.
Tumor Boards Another way for your doctor to review your case, get information and discuss the best treatment, especially with unusual types of cancers, is to attend a meeting called a Tumor Board. These boards are held frequently in all hospitals where cancer treatment is offered. They allow a group of doctors specializing in cancer to meet, discuss particular cases and give their opinions about the advantages and disadvantages of treatment alternatives. It is very common at this meeting for biopsy results to be presented and explained by the pathologist and for the radiologist and nuclear medical specialists to present all the x-rays and scans.
Your primary physician or oncologist will present your case (anonymously) so that each physician there has the same information your doctor has in making his or her decision.
In many larger hospitals there are specialty Tumor Boards that review cases in one particular field—breast cancer, urologic cancer, gynecologic cancers or head and neck cancers, for example.
When it comes to recommending treatment then, your doctor has had the benefit of input and ideas from a wide range of professionals.
