Multi-disciplinary Care for Brain Metastases

This is a cohort study of patient with newly diagnosed brain metastases assigned to standard of care (SOC) or intensive multi-disciplinary care (IMDC). Care for all patients with brain metastases involves complex medical decision making and requires input for multiple stakeholders, including medical oncology, neurosurgery, radiation oncology, and neuro-oncology. Palliative care should be an essential component of the care team for all patients with brain metastases by the very nature of this advanced malignancy. At the University of Vermont, our current process for diagnosis and management of patients with brain metastases relies heavily on the physician and team who make the initial diagnosis to consult others as they see appropriate. This process may look different for different patients. We rationalize that a systematic approach with intensive multidisciplinary care (IMDC) will benefit patients with brain metastases by providing consistent access to multi-disciplinary discussion.