National Cancer Grid Virtual Tumor Boards of Head and Neck Cancers: An Innovative Approach to Multidisciplinary Care

Autor: Shivakumar Thiagarajan, Vinisha Poojari, Vidisha Tuljapurkar, Sarbani Ghosh-Laskar, Khuzema Fatehi, Sajith Babu, Prashant Penumadu, Asawari Patil, Amit Joshi, Suman Kumar, Devendra Chaukar, Ravi Kannan, C.S. Pramesh
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: JCO Global Oncology, Vol , Iss 9 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2687-8941
DOI: 10.1200/GO.22.00348
Popis: PURPOSEVirtual tumor board (VTB) via videoconference facility involving multiple specialists in the decision making for various tumors is well accepted, especially in high-income countries. Information on virtual tumor boards for head and neck cancers especially from low- and middle-income countries is sparse. In this study, we have audited the findings of the National Cancer Grid VTBs performed for head and neck cancers.METHODSAll patients discussed in the head and neck VTBs at our center between December 2016 and February 2022 were included in the study. Details such as the type of institute sending patients for discussion, its location, subsites within the head and neck region, histopathology, treatment setting or question for the VTB, and availability of guidelines for such patient scenarios were assessed. Also, a survey was sent to assess the usefulness of the VTBs.RESULTSA total of 208 patients were discussed in 54 VTB sessions. The most common head and neck sites discussed in the VTBs were the oral cavity (n = 64, 30.7%) followed by skull base/nose and paranasal sinuses/eyelid-orbit tumors (n = 49, 23.5%). Nonsquamous cell carcinoma was the most common histopathology discussed; recurrent cancers/residual diseases were the most common treatment settings (n = 134, 64.4%) for which there were no existing guidelines. Survey results showed that most VTB decisions were implementable, and respondents felt that VTBs were a useful educational tool as well.CONCLUSIONOur study affirms the feasibility of VTBs in low- and middle-income countries' health care systems for managing uncommon malignancies and clinical situations, which act as an important educational platform.
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