Eye-opening stat. More than half of breast cancer patients had their treatment plan changed after being reviewed by a tumor board:
Researchers looked at the records of 149 consecutive patients referred to the U-M Cancer Center’s multidisciplinary breast tumor board for a second opinion. The patients had already been diagnosed with breast cancer after having undergone initial evaluation, breast imaging and biopsy, and they already had a treatment recommendation from another hospital or care provider.Overall, 52 percent of the patients evaluated had one or more changes in their recommendations for surgery. The changes were a result of breast imaging specialists reading a mammogram differently or breast pathologists interpreting biopsy results differently. In some cases, the initial recommendation was changed after the case was reviewed by medical oncologists and radiation oncologists prior to surgery.
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{ 3 comments }
Close your eyes, Kevin. Different, even if it originates from a tertiary care center, does not necessarily mean better, or more accurate. A lot of the patients may have been put on research protocols, which by definition will result in a change in their treatment plans, not necessarily resulting in an improved outcome.
This was a press release from the University that has the tumor board. Not even they suggest that their way is better, just that it is different.
I’m not saying that what they are doing is a bad thing. I grow weary of the implication that only tertiary care centers can provide adequate care, and that the folks out in community hospitals are backwards cavemen operating with axes and unknown potions. My small city of 50K has a tumor board that meets twice a month. Our oncologists put people on protocols. We have PET, MRI, and we are a 10 minute drive from our patients’ homes and workplaces. When they are better, they can say so. When they are only different, they should stop trying to imply that they are better.
A man with one watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches knows not which time it is.
So it is with two medical opinions. Which is better? Ask for a third…
Gasman,
Medicine is full of variables. no one answer is the correct one. else we’d cure all diseases the first time.
Second opinions are not only hte patients right, but everyone should get one, especially in situations of cancer. 2 can be confusing, but in cancer… knowing the options from unbiased physicians makes all the difference.
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