Dados do Trabalho

Título

NUCLEAR MEDICINE PHYSICIAN ON TUMOR BOARD: A SINGULAR CONTRIBUTION

Introdução

Tumor board meetings involve a multidisciplinary discussion of treatment approaches for patients with complex, advanced, or refractory cancer. It is recognized as an effective approach to guide clinical decision making and improve cancer care. Documentation templates can improve efficiency and help guide evidence-based practice. They can also be used to determine concordance rates, to evaluate historical performance, to guide real-time interventions.

Objetivo

To determine the impact of nuclear medicine health professionals at a multidisciplinary cancer tumor board at a national group of private cancer centers in Brazil.

Método

This prospective study analyzed data from 7 tumor board meetings in oncology (genitourinary, thoracic, breast, gynecology, general oncology and molecular), held between April and July 2021. We reviewed the documentation template used to discuss all cases and main characteristics of these meetings. Outcomes of interest included: proportion of reports discussed with the nuclear medicine physician, proportion of new procedures suggested by the nuclear medicine physician and rates of agreements. Descriptive statistics were generated.

Resultado

A total of 26 meetings were held and 84 patients’ report discussed. Approximately 23 physicians participated in each meeting (range: 13 – 42), with 3 to 4 participants from the nuclear medicine department. In general, these individuals actively participated in 41% of meetings and suggested new procedures in 27% of the cases discussed; almost all oncologists (91%) agreed with such suggestions and changed their treatment approach. Notably, approximately half of patients (56%) had completed a nuclear medicine test. Among these patients, the report was discussed with the nuclear medicine physician in almost all cases (96%) and guided clinical decision making in most circumstances (72%).

Conclusão

Our findings clearly confirm the benefit of participation of a nuclear medicine physician in tumor boards, with such involvement frequently impacting treatment planning. Future studies should determine the impact of these meetings on health outcomes and healthcare processes.

Palavras-chave

tumor board, multidisciplinary team, nuclear medicine