Tumour board

Article • Patient care

Molecular Tumour Board for better decision-making

As more genomic alterations become targets for therapy, health institutions and hospitals are creating specialist Molecular Tumour Boards to support better decision-making for patient care. This…

News • Patient empowerment

Should cancer patients participate in tumour conferences?

The goal of tumour conferences is to determine the best treatment for patients with complex cancers – however, the patient is rarely present. Now, a team of researchers has investigated whether…

Article • Digitising healthcare

Virtual assistants and digital twins advance personalised medicine

Siri and Alexa are leading the way: the virtual assistants meet many daily needs. Soon, similarly programmed software and a ‘digital patient twin’, will be launched into the medical world –…

Article • Integrated diagnostics

Radiologists, pathologists and geneticists gather around a digital table

Radiology, pathology, medical genetics and laboratory medicine under one roof: many hospitals are toying with the idea of ‘integrated diagnostics’ but it was the medical management at Geneva’s…

News • Oncology

3-D Models yield insights into ovarian cancer

With a unique approach that draws on 3-D printing technologies, a team of University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers is developing new tools for understanding how ovarian cancer develops in women.

News •

Danes take pathology software worldwide

Having convinced medical labs across Denmark that its suite of image analysis software can provide a solution to the crushing burden of in vitro diagnostics (IVD), VisioPharm is offering it to…

Mandatory tumour boards

The government of France takes cancer very seriously. With 150,000 deaths each year, this is the leading cause of mortality in the country. The national health system pays for 100% of the care.

Tumour boards cause staff problems

About 20 years ago the first tumour boards were set up in Germany. Initiated and led by surgeons, they not only invited oncologists, radiotherapists and radiologists to conferences but also, increasingly often, pathologists.

Re-evaluating the multidisciplinary approach to cancer care

A 2012 study analysing the care of cancer patients in the USA in 138 Veterans’ Administration hospitals (pub: Journal of the National Cancer Institute) questions the effectiveness of tumour board review. The study measured effectiveness by comparing the presence of tumour review boards with stage-specific quality of care and patient outcomes.