Multidisciplinary Approach in Cancer Management
摘要
The management of cancer patients is increasingly becoming a global concern, mostly due to the rapid change of cumulative evidence, the approvals of new medications, and updates in management guidelines. The implementation of the multidisciplinary approach has enabled clinicians to effectively address the increasing demands of cancer patients. One way to accomplish this is by utilizing multidisciplinary clinics, such as breast units, or by convening multidisciplinary tumor boards (MTBs), also referred to as multidisciplinary meetings. In this chapter, we will explore the multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach from various aspects beginning form its history, implementations, advantages, and limitations. MDT model in cancer care is defined as cooperation between different specialists aiming for improvement of treatment efficiency for cancer patients with much evidence available regarding its added value. MDT is a comprehensive healthcare approach where medical and allied health experts engage in discussions about all pertinent treatment choices and jointly develop a personalized treatment plan for each patient. MDT approach can be applied successfully in many cancer types.