Global Tumor Boards Connect Doctors to Improve Patient Care

Jessica St. Louis is the senior program coordinator for GCI and has been with GCI since its inception. Among her many duties, she coordinates Global Tumor Boards: live, online videoconferences that connect doctors from around the world to discuss complex patient cases. Here, Jessica answers some of the most frequently asked questions about these tumor boards and how she works with GCI’s global network to make them happen.

What are tumor boards?

Global Tumor Boards are meetings where a multidisciplinary team of doctors get together to discuss complex patient cases. They are not only valuable for patients, who of course benefit from having multiple doctors reach a consensus on best treatment and care, but they are also an important educational tool. They offer an opportunity for doctors to collaborate and learn from each other – even from different continents.

How exactly do Global Tumor Boards work?

Our tumor boards are online videoconference meetings with the ability to host 15 cameras and unlimited numbers of viewers who can watch the meeting. This is unique in that we can connect and communicate with hundreds of doctors at once in real time from our office in Boston! Doctors can also go on YouTube and watch recordings of our previous tumor boards at any time.

Who are the doctors that join tumor boards? Where do they come from?

Doctors who join our tumor boards are from over 18 countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia. In total, our tumor boards have reached over 350 doctors worldwide. The patient impact of Global Tumor Boards is huge, considering that one doctor typically treats hundreds of patients per day.

What exactly do these doctors talk about during the one-hour meeting?

GCI holds monthly tumor boards on breast and gynecologic cancers. In each meeting, we invite hospitals from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to present challenging patient cases to a panel of multidisciplinary experts from prestigious cancer centers in the United States, including Johns Hopkins, Stanford University, MD Anderson, and others. Our panel of experts help the doctors reach a consensus on each patient’s treatment. We find that many doctors have similar challenges when providing cancer care in LMICs with limited resources. We discuss these resource challenges as well as GCI’s research initiatives and interventions to improve access to clinical care.

Why does GCI do tumor boards?

Global Tumor Boards are an effective way to improve patient care through doctors. The doctors in these countries often work in multiple hospitals and see hundreds of patients a day without the guidance of their peers. This burden prevents doctors from keeping up to date on clinical practice guidelines.

They are a great way to engage doctors in patient care discussions with their peers – doctors really enjoy talking about medicine with one another! It creates a “beehive effect” where doctors can learn together and build similar levels of clinical knowledge and styles of practice. We also engage the doctors in discussions about how their patient cases relate to “bigger picture” cancer control issues and public health interventions.

Besides that, it is very comforting for patients to know that their cancer is being watched by a team of doctors who came to a consensus about the best step forward.

What kind of technical capabilities are required to be part of a tumor board?

All that’s needed is a computer with a camera, microphone and an internet connection.

How can I join?

If you are a doctor in a LMIC and would like to join Global Tumor Boards, please contact us at info@globalcancerinstitute.org !