Multidisciplinary pediatric brain tumor clinics: the key to successful treatment?

Abstract

SUMMARY  Tumors of the CNS are the most common solid tumors diagnosed in childhood. As technology and research in cancer care are advancing, more specialties are involved in the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of children with brain tumors. Multidisciplinary clinics have become the standard of care for cancer care throughout the USA, and specialty clinics focused on particular cancer types are gaining attention in improving the patient outcomes and satisfaction. We will discuss the role of multidisciplinary clinics, in an attempt to create preliminary guidelines on establishing and maintaining a multidisciplinary brain tumor clinic in order to optimize the care of the patients and their families.