Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Consultation

A multidisciplinary team (MDT) consultation brings together healthcare professionals from different specialties to review a patient's condition and develop or refine an individualized treatment plan.

Cancer care often involves multiple specialties, including surgery, medical oncology, radiation oncology, hematology, pathology, radiology, and interventional oncology. An MDT review brings together information from pathology, imaging, molecular testing, previous treatments, and the patient's overall health to help determine the most appropriate treatment strategy and sequence of care.

MDT consultation can be used for many blood cancers and solid tumors and is particularly helpful when diagnosis or treatment is complex and requires input from several specialties.

For example, patients with locally advanced solid tumors may need an MDT discussion to determine whether surgery should be performed first or whether chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, or immunotherapy should come before surgery. For patients with liver, lung, or other metastases, the team may evaluate whether surgery, ablation, radiation therapy, or other local treatments remain possible.

For relapsed or refractory leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and other blood cancers, an MDT may help evaluate treatment options such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, CAR-T cell therapy, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and determine how they may fit into the overall treatment plan.

Before an MDT consultation, relevant information is usually collected, including pathology reports, imaging studies, laboratory results, genomic or molecular test results, and records of previous treatment.

During the consultation, specialists review the case from their respective areas of expertise. The discussion may address the diagnosis, stage and risk of the disease, available treatment options, and how different treatments should be coordinated or sequenced.

The team then develops a multidisciplinary treatment recommendation. If the cancer, treatment response, or patient's condition changes over time, the case may be reviewed again and the treatment plan adjusted.

An MDT consultation is not a treatment itself. It is a collaborative approach to treatment planning and decision-making. Not every patient requires a formal MDT review, particularly when the diagnosis is clear and the treatment pathway is well established.

MDT review can be especially valuable for complex cases, difficult diagnoses, relapsed or refractory disease, or situations in which several treatment options are available. The final treatment plan should also take into account the patient's treatment goals, overall health, preferences, and available medical resources.