Cancer treatment is usually planned by a team of specialists who work together. This team of specialists is called a multidisciplinary team (MDT). They have expert knowledge and experience of a particular type of cancer.
When planning treatment, the MDT take into account:
- the type and size of the cancer and whether it has spread
- your general health
- national treatment guidelines for the cancer (if available).
Some rare cancers are subtypes of more common cancers. Often these rare subtypes are treated in a similar way to the more common type of that cancer. They are usually managed by the MDT for that type of cancer. For example, most rare types of breast cancer are treated in a similar way to the most common type of breast cancer.
But in some cases, treatment is very different. In this situation, you may be referred to another MDT with experience of that subtype. For example, if you have a breast lymphoma, you may be treated by a specialist in non-Hodgkin lymphoma rather than by a breast cancer specialist.