Multidisciplinary Team Management of Upper Gastrointestinal, Hepatic, Pancreatic, and Biliary Cancers

Abstract

AbstractDespite recent advances in the management of gastrointestinal cancer and the development of more effective treatment paradigms there is still much scope for improvement. The multidisciplinary team is a vital part of clinical management as treatment pathways are becoming increasingly multimodal and complex and in some tumour types the expertise of the treatment team has been shown to be a major determinant of outcome. In addition to optimising the combination of surgery, radiotherapy and conventional cytotoxics in the treatment of these cancers, the role of molecular targeted therapy is also being established. These newer agents are likely to be integrated into future treatment protocols. In addition, improvements in tumour staging with imaging techniques such as PET (positron emission tomography) and the identification of new prognostic markers will enable more accurate tailoring of treatment according to disease extent and biological behaviour. This chapter summarizes the current status of multidisciplinary treatment for upper gastrointestinal, hepatic, pancreatic and biliary cancer.