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On September 25, 2025, the "Multidisciplinary Academic Exchange Launch Meeting on Complex Oncology Cases --- Guangzhou Session and the Bone Metastasis MDT Launch Meeting of Jinshazhou Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine" was successfully held at our hospital. The meeting was attended by President Liu Wenwei, Vice President He Wei, as well as a number of distinguished experts including Professor Zhang Junyi, Professor Wu Xin, and Professor Liu Ying. The conference focused on the key clinical challenges associated with the diagnosis and treatment of bone metastases. By strengthening multidisciplinary collaboration through the MDT model, the event aimed to establish an efficient clinical platform capable of integrating expertise from multiple specialties. Through this coordinated framework, the initiative seeks to further enhance the overall diagnostic and therapeutic standards in the management of complex and difficult oncology cases.
Patient-centered care and multidisciplinary collaboration as an emerging trend
At the beginning of the meeting, President Liu Wenwei and Vice President He Wei delivered opening remarks, warmly welcoming the attending experts and expressing their sincere appreciation for their participation. President Liu Wenwei noted that bone tumors have long remained a major challenge for the medical community and pose a serious threat to both the health and the quality of life of patients. When confronted with such complex diseases, a single-discipline model is often insufficient to meet the diverse clinical needs of patients.
President Liu further emphasized that, as modern medicine continues to evolve toward increasing specialization, physicians may simultaneously face a narrowing of their individual knowledge scope. In this context, the multidisciplinary team (MDT) consultation model not only embodies the principle of patient-centered care but also represents an important direction for the future development of personalized and intelligent medical services. Through effective multidisciplinary collaboration, it becomes possible to provide patients with higher-quality medical care while also improving the comprehensive evaluation of therapeutic outcomes for patients with cancer.
The importance of anticipatory intervention in the management of bone metastases
Professor Zhang Junyi presented his perspectives from the standpoint of internal medicine. He noted that systemic medical treatment in oncology is typically centered on antitumor therapy. However, greater attention should also be given to the management of bone metastases. The incidence of bone metastasis is relatively high. Therefore, while actively pursuing antitumor treatment, clinicians should also emphasize the rational use of bone-protective medications.
Professor Zhang further highlighted the importance of anticipatory intervention for skeletal-related events associated with bone metastases. He explained that in patients with spinal metastases in particular, when there is a clinical assessment suggesting a potential risk of spinal cord compression, proactive intervention should be initiated as early as possible rather than waiting until symptoms develop. In such cases, treatment options such as radiotherapy and vertebroplasty using bone cement may serve as effective interventional approaches.
Regarding the duration of pharmacological therapy, Professor Zhang pointed out that bisphosphonate medications are generally recommended for use for no longer than two years. Prolonged administration may increase the risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw. Consequently, therapeutic decisions should aim to maintain an appropriate balance between clinical efficacy and the potential risk of adverse effects.
Challenges in the management of bone metastases highlight the value of MDT collaboration
During the discussion, Professor Liu Ying noted that with the continuous improvement in survival among cancer patients, the incidence of skeletal-related events associated with bone metastases has also been steadily increasing. She pointed out that many patients seek medical care because of severe bone pain, which significantly affects their quality of life. In this context, the role of multidisciplinary consultation becomes particularly important. She shared that not long ago the hospital successfully applied the MDT model to develop a treatment strategy for two young patients with osteosarcoma, combining neoadjuvant chemotherapy with subsequent joint replacement surgery, which yielded encouraging clinical outcomes.
Professor Liu further emphasized that MDT discussions allow physicians from different specialties to gain insight into the latest developments in other fields. As an example, she noted that during the meeting she learned that ECT is relatively insensitive to osteoclast activity, whereas PET-CT provides more accurate assessment. Such interdisciplinary exchanges, she remarked, greatly broaden the knowledge base of participating clinicians.
In addition, Professor Wu Xin discussed several challenges encountered in the clinical evaluation of bone metastases. He explained that in some patients metastatic lesions may be widespread yet very small, while in other cases the lesions show minimal change after treatment. Under existing evaluation criteria, these situations can be difficult to assess accurately. In such circumstances, the collective judgment of specialists from multiple disciplines becomes especially valuable.
Multidisciplinary collaboration further promotes the development of specialized disciplines
Vice President He Wei reviewed the development of the hospital's orthopedic oncology service. He noted that the concept for launching the MDT program originated from a proposal put forward earlier in the year by Director Cao Yanming. With the establishment of the Department of Bone and Soft Tissue Tumors, the hospital has gradually developed a more comprehensive platform for multidisciplinary collaboration.
Vice President He also explained that the hospital has already established a rapid-response MDT communication mechanism that enables the prompt sharing of clinical information and imaging data. Through this system, specialists from different departments can respond quickly and participate efficiently in case discussions. He expressed confidence that the establishment of the MDT framework will play a key role in advancing the development of orthopedic oncology within the hospital. After nearly five years of continuous growth, Jinshazhou Hospital is now entering a new stage characterized by increasingly refined and standardized clinical practice.
Looking ahead: enabling more patients to benefit from the MDT model
This launch meeting brought together experts from multiple disciplines, including oncology, orthopedics, radiation oncology, pharmacy, nuclear medicine, and medical imaging, who jointly discussed clinical standards and emerging research directions in the management of bone metastases. The participating specialists reached a consensus that in-depth discussion within the MDT framework, combined with sustained multidisciplinary collaboration, will further enhance the hospital's clinical capabilities in the diagnosis and treatment of bone metastases and thereby enable more patients to benefit from this model of care.
The meeting also emphasized that the establishment of a more efficient MDT collaboration mechanism can significantly improve the quality of care for patients with bone metastases, particularly in terms of early assessment, comprehensive intervention, and standardized clinical management. Taking this launch meeting as an important starting point, the hospital plans to further develop a more robust multidisciplinary cooperation platform, thereby promoting the standardized and individualized development of bone metastasis management while providing patients with higher-quality medical services.
