Tumor board tuesday and awareness of novel therapies and toxicities in solid tumor oncology.

Abstract

11008 Background: Social media platforms, including Twitter, offer novel tools to accelerate discussion and learning that crosses national borders, flattens hierarchies, and enables collaborations not previously possible. Here, we report on a new initiative, Tumor Board Tuesday (TBT), which facilitates the presentation of cases with active discussion from thousands of stakeholders across the oncology community, highlighting new practice changes and precision oncology strategies. Herein, we sought to evaluate 1) the nature of participation by individuals and groups, as well as their scope of participation in TBT; 2) the impact of participation in TBT, including new collaborations forged, practice changes, increased knowledge of the use of novel agents, and their associate toxicities, as well as emerging clinical trials available to patients. Methods: TBT performed a survey designed to assess the demographics, experience, and opinions of platform users. This survey was collated with voluntary pre/post TBT presentation knowledge checks to assess knowledge acquisition. Results: Based on the survey of TBT participants (n = 38), participant gender is roughly balanced (48.4% women, 48.4% men; 3.2% prefer not to answer). 83.6% of respondents reside in the United States, 8% in Brazil, 5.4% in India, and 3% in Ireland. Interestingly, the majority of respondents identified Twitter as their primary source for oncologic and practice changing updates. Among self-identified oncologists, 12.9% identified as senior members of the field, 51.6% as mid-career, 16.1% as early career, and 12.9% as fellows/trainees. Despite the wide variation in career stage, 81.1% of respondents noted that they had become aware of a new treatment option or modality through TBT participation, which caused 78.4% to change or re-think their treatment approach. In addition, 75.7% of respondents noted that TBT had helped them to become more aware of novel agent toxicities, and 78.4% became aware of a clinical trial option because of TBT participation. Finally, 78.4% of respondents identified TBT as a tool that had helped grow professional connections and networks. On average, there were 56 respondents to knowledge-based questions within each TBT presentation. Analysis of responses to pre and post TBT questions focused on breast, GU, and pulmonary malignancies revealed a 12%, 13%, and 6% respective increase in correct answer choices. Conclusions: Social media, specifically, the use of the TBT platform engages oncology professionals across the career spectrum, enhances learning about novel therapies and corresponding toxicities, and broadens professional connections.