Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics, 2025, Vol.13, No.6, 254-264 http://medscipublisher.com/index.php/cge 256 The arrangement and frequency of MDT meetings vary from country to country. In the UK and Europe, MDTS are usually held at least once every two weeks, mostly chaired by surgeons, with core specialty members attending regularly. Since 2013, the United States has made holding an MDT meeting once a month a hard requirement in the assessment of cancer programs. Although the organizational forms and details vary from place to place, the core objective is the same: to provide patients with coordinated and patient-centered diagnosis and treatment services. The main problems currently faced include: how to implement unified work standards, ensure service quality, deal with increasingly complex cases, and maintain team operations with limited resources. Even so, the MDT model continues to develop globally and is gradually moving towards digital integration and greater patient participation (Soukup et al., 2018; Winters et al., 2021). 3 The Application and Therapeutic Effect of MDT in Different Types of Malignant Tumors 3.1 Application in breast cancer and lung cancer The multidisciplinary team (MDT) model is now widely used in the treatment of breast cancer and has significantly improved the treatment outcomes for breast cancer patients. MDT can help coordinate various arrangements for diagnosis and treatment, enabling patients to receive comprehensive examinations and judgments from doctors in multiple fields such as surgery, oncology, radiology, pathology, and specialized nursing. Studies show that when patients join MDT diagnosis and treatment, doctors often make more accurate diagnoses of breast cancer and can better follow the standard treatment plan, which is helpful for improving the survival rate of patients. For instance, formulating treatment plans through MDT can make the treatment plan more reasonable, reduce unnecessary surgeries, and thereby improve both the treatment effect and recovery situation (Prades et al., 2015; Ko et al., 2021; Scott, 2021). Lung cancer is a rather complex disease that often requires early and systematic treatment. Therefore, the diagnosis and treatment approach of MDT is particularly important. Many studies and clinical data comparisons have found that lung cancer patients who receive MDT management have a longer overall survival time, a shorter period from diagnosis to the start of treatment, and a higher proportion of completing tumor staging-related examinations. The MDT model can also enable more patients to receive appropriate treatment arrangements and promote doctors to act better in accordance with clinical treatment guidelines, which is crucial for improving the treatment outcomes of lung cancer types such as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (Table 1) (Bilfinger et al., 2018; Ko et al., 2021; Scott, 2021; De Castro et al., 2023). Table 1 Summary of findings: association between MDT and outcomes in patients with lung cancer (adopted from De Castro et al., 2023) Outcomes Number of Studies; Number of Patients Compiled Studies Heterogeneity (I2), % Effect size: HR, MD, or RR (95% CI) Quality of Evidence (GRADE) Overall survival 3; 38, 037 27, 31, 39 78 HR 0.60 (0.49-0.75) Very low a Time from diagnosis to first treatment 6; 15, 235 16, 28, 33, 37, 38, 42 63 MD 12.41 (11.16-13.65) Very low a, b Complete staging 4; 14 ,925 16, 30, 33, 37 89 RR 1.36 (1.17-1.57) Very low a, b Table caption: GRADE approach to assess quality of evidence; CI: Confidence interval; HR: Hazard ratio; GRADE: Grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluation; MD: Mean difference; MDT: Multidisciplinary team; RR: Risk ratio; a: Inconsistency: downgraded one level due to inconsistency; b: Risk of bias: downgraded one level due to within-study risk of bias classified as high in most studies 3.2 Comprehensive treatment of digestive system tumors Colorectal cancer, gastric cancer and other digestive system tumors have also achieved good results under the MDT model treatment. There are many types of this kind of cancer, and it is difficult to determine the stage of the disease. Therefore, the comprehensive assessment and personalized treatment plan brought by MDT are particularly important. Multiple studies and medical record data show that MDT can improve the survival rate of such patients, especially for advanced colorectal cancer and gastric cancer. For instance, if patients with advanced gastric cancer participate in MDT diagnosis and treatment, their overall survival rate within three years will increase and the risk of death will also decrease. The survival rate of colorectal cancer patients treated with MDT, especially those at stage III and IV, was also significantly improved (Ma et al., 2024; Mangone et al., 2024).
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