Interdisciplinary breast cancer care: declaring and improving the standard

The contemporary management of breast cancer is a complex endeavor that requires a truly collaborative team approach, characterized by ongoing communication and active information-sharing among the multiple disciplines involved. Programs designed to provide comprehensive breast cancer management by a team of multidisciplinary specialists were introduced in the late 1970s and have been increasing slowly. Patients attending comprehensive breast centers receive care from a broad-based multidisciplinary team that most often includes surgeons, radiologists, pathologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, plastic/reconstructive surgeons, primary care physicians, gynecologists, nurses, social workers, patient advocates, and genetic risk counselors. At the heart of comprehensive, interdisciplinary breast care is the consensus planning conference that brings together team members on a regular basis to discuss individual patient cases and develop comprehensive treatment plans. This interactive and dynamic forum has become integral to the interdisciplinary management of breast diseases and results in an increased level of communication between the participating health-care professionals and the patients they treat. Several professional organizations, most prominently the American Society of Breast Disease, promote and support an interdisciplinary approach to breast care.