Raising the level of cancer care around the world: The feasibility and perceived benefit of a virtual breast tumor board

Abstract Introduction: It is well established that multidisciplinary tumor boards improve the decision-making process for cancer patients. Tumor boards have been shown to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and staging, optimize patient outcomes, increase adherence to guidelines, and educate our peers and trainees. However, over 80% of patients in the United States receive their cancer care in the community setting, where access to multi-disciplinary tumor boards may not be readily available. This may particularly impact underserved populations who often lack the resources to travel to an academic center for second opinions or treatment. The problem is worse in low-resource countries. Virtual expert tumor boards could provide an effective solution. Methods: Preeminent breast oncology faculty from around the Unites States were assembled into virtual tumor board panels via an online platform to discuss challenging cases submitted by community providers and trainees. These tumor boards consisted of a moderator, a breast radiologist, a breast medical oncologist, a breast surgeon, and a breast radiation oncologist. The purpose of this ongoing endeavor is to educate community oncologists on how to best manage challenging cases. Following tumor board discussions, written recommendations were shared with submitting providers within 48 hours and recordings of the discussions were also later provided. After submitting providers watched the recording of their case discussion, we conducted a survey to determine their perceived benefit of the expert panel discussion. Results: From Sept 2020 to June 2021, ten breast cancer panels were virtually convened with 17 expert faculty panelists. During that time, 21 providers submitted 94 cases from the U.S. and around the world to be discussed by the expert panel. Thirty-three percent of the providers who submitted a case to be discussed have subsequently submitted an additional case to a later panel. Surveys were sent to all submitting providers and responses were recorded from 16/21 submitters (76.2%). Conclusion: With more than three out of four submitters responding, we learned that not only is it feasible to convene virtual expert breast tumor boards to discuss challenging cases, but the vast majority of respondents learned new information, changed management of their patients, and wanted to submit additional cases. This effort could raise the level of breast cancer care around the world. Ongoing assessment of educational and patient care impacts will be necessary. QuestionNumber answered (n)Number who answered yes (%)Number who answered no (%)Did you learn something new from the PrecisCa discussion of your case scenario?1614 (87.5)2 (12.5)Will anything you learned from the PrecisCa discussion of your case scenario change the management of this or future patients?1615 (93.8)1 (6.2)Are you likely to submit a future challenging case scenario to PrecisCa?1616 (100)0 (0) Citation Format: Naomi Dempsey, Lauren Chiec, Mikala Lodder, Erin Shonkwiler, Kayla Haines, Reshma Mahtani, William Gradishar, Thomas Buchholz, Anne O'Dea, Norman Wolmark, Sara Hurvitz, Joyce O'Shaughnessy, Maxine Jochelson, Reni Butler, Eleftherios Mamounas, Frank Vicini, Mark Pegram, Chirag Shah, Tari King, Ruth O'Regan, Monica Morrow, Mohammad Jahanzeb. Raising the level of cancer care around the world: The feasibility and perceived benefit of a virtual breast tumor board [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2021 Dec 7-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-17-03.