Multidisciplinary tumour board (MDT)
Oncology Health Services
Definition. A multidisciplinary tumour board, or multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting, is a regular meeting at which specialists from the relevant disciplines jointly review individual cancer cases and agree a diagnostic and treatment plan.
Explanation
Typical members include surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, radiologists, pathologists and specialist nurses. Multidisciplinary team working has become the standard organisational model for cancer care, although the evidence base for its effect on patient outcomes has long been questioned (Taylor et al., 2010). A systematic review of 27 studies found that MDT meetings change diagnostic reports and management plans and improve the completeness of staging, but found little evidence of improved survival, with study quality limited by selection bias and historical comparisons (Pillay et al., 2016).
For managers, the board is a structure whose value depends on whether its recommendations are implemented, followed up and measured, and on how meetings are chaired and resourced (Realist Evaluation and QCA of Complex Interventions in Oncology Management). Because complex cases are preferentially referred to the board, observational comparisons of discussed and non-discussed patients are prone to confounding by indication (DAGs and Target Trial Emulation for Oncology Management Research).
Related concepts
Clinical practice guideline Clinical pathway Patient journey Shared decision-making
Read on The Health Topics
- The Next-Generation Oncology Hospital: MDT, Data, Digitalisation and Management Analytics
- Realist Evaluation and QCA of Complex Interventions in Oncology Management: MDT, Telehealth/ePRO and QA/QI
- DAGs and Target Trial Emulation for Oncology Management Research: Eight Causal Chains
- Managing an Oncology Hospital as a System: Patient Journey, Process, Bottleneck and Capacity
References
Pillay, B., Wootten, A. C., Crowe, H., Corcoran, N., Tran, B., Bowden, P., Crowe, J., & Costello, A. J. (2016). The impact of multidisciplinary team meetings on patient assessment, management and outcomes in oncology settings: A systematic review of the literature. Cancer Treatment Reviews, 42, 56–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctrv.2015.11.007
Taylor, C., Munro, A. J., Glynne-Jones, R., Griffith, C., Trevatt, P., Richards, M., & Ramirez, A. J. (2010). Multidisciplinary team working in cancer: What is the evidence? BMJ, 340, Article c951. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c951
Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Multidisciplinary tumour board (MDT). In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/multidisciplinary-tumour-board/