Why should cancer patients be treated by a group of specialists?

Cancer patients should not be treated by one specialist. Instead, a group of doctors should work with them, thinks Dinesh Pendharkar, Chairman of the American Society of Clinical Oncology MCM committee. He told NEWS.am Medicine that this kind of multidisciplinary approach to cancer treatment is more effective and it is very popular in a lot of countries.

"It is important to treat cancer patients in multidisciplinary fashion, since it will definitely offer a better treatment for the patients," he said.

How does this multidisciplinary approach work? For example, when a breast cancer patient comes to the clinic, in the beginning she's usually seen by one doctor. When the minimal investigations and tests are done and the diagnosis is clear, the stage of treatment planning comes. It's possible that the patient may require surgery, radiation theraphy or chemotherapy or even palliative theraphy -- it's up to the group of doctors to decide.

"At this stage the patient is usually brought to what we call a tumor board, to a room where all doctors are sitting. The case is presented, and then all of the doctors decide if the patient should get chemotherapy and then should be operated, or maybe it's better for the patient to do the surgery first and then do something else," he said and added that this kind of multidisciplinary approach will offer a better treatment for the patient.

Doctor Dinesh Pendharkar also said that when there are many people sitting together and discussing the case, if one of the doctors misses or forgets something, his colleagues may help him, and together they may come to the right conclusion about how to treat the patient.

This will help reduce the risks of errors and provide standardized treatment that can offer a better long-time cure, Doctor Dinesh Pendharkar said.

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