The role of the tumor board in a community hospital.

A hospital tumor board is a multidisciplinary group of physicians that meets on a regular basis to review cancer cases. Through regular meetings, the tumor board will improve the quality of cancer care, provide educational opportunities for participants, and become an asset to the hospital and to the community. The use of multidisciplinary tumor-board consultations can ensure that the cancer patient has access to the best current thinking about cancer management. This structure provides the individual practitioner and his hospital with the educational, quality assurance, and legal mechanisms to deliver state-of-the-art care.