Peter Humphrey, MD, PhD, Talks Multidisciplinary Aspects of Oncology Research

CancerNetwork® spoke with Peter Humphrey, MD, PhD, professor of pathology and director of Genitourinary Pathology at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, about how he felt the multidisciplinary nature of the 15th Annual Interdisciplinary Prostate Cancer Congress® and Other Genitourinary Malignancies, hosted by Physicians’ Education Resource®, LLC (PER®) was useful for future practice. Humphrey also talked about utilizing tumor boards where clinicians from different departments can discuss current topics.

Transcript:

One of the reasons I so enjoy this conference is the multidisciplinary nature. There’s directional learning and I’ve learned so much from my clinical colleagues today about their management based upon our diagnosis, for example. I think the same is true for when we present our diagnostic approach and how that diagnosis would influence them and their patient management. That multidisciplinary nature [for] taking care of patients with cancer, any cancer, is so vital.

I also appreciate that locally at Yale where we have weekly tumor boards, we have interactions amongst all of us including medical oncologists, urologist, interventional radiologists, diagnostic radiologists, and pathologists. Only by all of all of us having an input can we get a complete picture of the patient’s status at that point in time and have a vibrant discussion about treatment options. Depending upon the diagnosis and what radiologists and pathologists see at that point in time and in the patient’s care, it’s [providing] ongoing medical education for everyone while at the same time being practical in care of the patient.