The short answer
A tumor board is a meeting where doctors from different specialties review cases together. You can ask whether yours was presented and what was recommended.
A tumor board is a meeting where doctors from different specialties review a patient's case together and discuss treatment options.
Which specialists take part varies by hospital. Ask who was involved in reviewing your case.
Patients usually do not attend. The recommendation is advice, and your treating doctor still decides with you.
You can ask whether your case was presented and what was recommended.
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This page is for people with cancer who want to know how treatment plans get made. It explains what a tumor board is and how to ask whether your case has been reviewed.
What It Is
A tumor board is a meeting in which doctors from several specialties review patients' cases together and discuss treatment options. Hospitals set up their own boards, so who attends and how often it meets varies.
Who May Be in the Room
Depending on the hospital, the group may include doctors such as a medical oncologist, a surgeon, a radiation oncologist, a pathologist and a radiologist, and sometimes other team members such as nurses or social workers. Ask who reviewed your case.
What Happens to Your Case
Your treating doctor can bring your case to the group. Specialists look at your history, scans and pathology, and discuss options. The group may reach a recommendation, which should be written into your chart. Ask your doctor how this works at your hospital.
What It Is Not
Patients usually do not attend. It is not a vote you take part in.
The recommendation is advice, not an order. Your treating doctor stays responsible for your care and makes the final decision with you. They may go a different way for reasons specific to you, such as other illnesses, your own goals, or information the group did not have.
Not every case is presented. Ask your doctor whether yours has been or will be.
How to Use This
Ask the question plainly at your next appointment: "Has my case been presented at tumor board? If not, can it be?"
If it has, ask what was recommended. Ask whether anyone disagreed. Ask whether it can be written into your chart so you can read it.
If your hospital does not hold tumor boards, ask whether your case can go to one elsewhere, or whether you can get a second opinion. NCI says getting a second opinion is very common. NCI-designated cancer centers are listed on NCI's Find a Cancer Center page.
If the Board Disagrees With Your Doctor
Ask why. There is often a good answer, such as another illness, a preference of yours, or something learned since the meeting. What you want is the reasoning. If you cannot get an explanation you can follow, that is worth saying out loud to your team.
If you have new or worsening symptoms while you wait for a plan, call your care team right away.
Sources
Common questions
Can I attend or listen in?
Usually not, but practices differ. Ask your oncologist to summarize the discussion afterwards: what options were considered, whether anyone disagreed, and what the group recommended. You can ask that it be written into your chart note, which you may be able to read in your patient portal.
Does every cancer patient's case go to tumor board?
Not necessarily. Hospitals decide which cases to bring. If you are unsure, ask your oncologist whether your case has been or will be presented.
Is the tumor board's recommendation binding?
No. It is advice from a group of specialists, not an order. Your treating doctor remains responsible for your care and makes the final decision with you. You can ask why your doctor is or is not following it.
What if my hospital does not have a tumor board?
Ask directly: "Is there a tumor board my case can go to, here or elsewhere?" You can also ask about a second opinion at another center. NCI says getting a second opinion is very common, and that doctors are usually not offended when asked.
What should I do with the recommendation?
Read it, then ask at your next visit: what did they recommend, was there disagreement in the room, and are we following it? If your doctor is departing from the recommendation, ask why.
Questions to ask your doctor
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Written by: Cancer ExplainedSources last checked: 2026-07-30 what this meansLast updated: 2026-10-16Next planned review: 2027-07-30
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Cancer Explained does not originate medical claims. Every page restates guidance already published by the National Cancer Institute, the CDC, the USPSTF and the FDA, in plain language, with the source cited so you can check the original yourself. AI does the translating and organizing; automated checks test claims, citations, clarity and safety before anything publishes, and this is translation and navigation, not clinical judgment. Nothing here is personal medical advice, and no page can account for your particular situation.
Editorial status: Source checked — This page was written with AI assistance and then compared with the sources listed on it, looking for statements those sources do not back up. That check is not a sentence-by-sentence record and can miss errors. It is not a medical review, and it does not confirm the page is complete or right for your situation.
Human medical review: not completed. Pages here are not signed off by a clinician before they publish. That is not an oversight we are quietly working around: we restate published guidance and cite it, so the authority belongs to the source rather than to us, and every page names where its claims come from — you can verify us instead of trusting us. Where a volunteer clinician has reviewed a page, their name and credentials appear on it; where no name appears, no clinician has checked it. We are glad to have reviewers and are recruiting them, and we do not hold pages back waiting for one. Use this site to understand your situation and to ask better questions of the people treating you.
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