The Impact of the Pathologist in Multidisciplinary Cancer Conferences on Patient Care : Evidence From the Literature

Objectives: Multidisciplinary cancer conferences (MCCs) are important tools in the treatment of patients with complex health issues, helping clinicians achieve optimal outcomes in oncological practice. To explore the role of pathologists at MCCs, we conducted a review of prior research on this topic.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review by searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library for English-language qualitative, quantitative, or multiple/mixed methods studies on the role and impact of pathologists on MCCs. We used Microsoft Excel to extract data.

Results: Of 76 research results, we included only 3 studies that involved review of cancer cases by pathologists for MCCs. All 3 studies showed that expert pathology review improved the accuracy of diagnosis and refined disease staging, leading to changes in the management of melanoma, breast cancer, and gynecologic cancer. No studies explored the barriers to pathologists participating in MCCs or the strategies or interventions employed to promote or support pathologist involvement.

Conclusions: We identified a paucity of studies on the role of pathologists in MCCs. Given the positive impact of MCCs involving pathologists on the accuracy of diagnosis and optimization of treatment, future research is warranted to further establish the role and impact of pathologists in MCCs and how to promote or support pathologists' involvement.