The launch of a pioneering tumor board, co-founded by Alan Alper Sag, M.D., and Laurence Sands, M.D., M.B.A., professor and chair of the DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and interim chair of its Department of Interventional Radiology, focused exclusively on cancer-related pain, was a bold step toward improving quality of life for Sylvester patients. The board is one of the first of its kind in Florida and among only a handful in the United States.
The Adult Cancer Pain & Bone Metastasis Tumor Board, which began meeting regularly in May 2025, brought together a multidisciplinary team of specialists. “This allowed patients to have an expert opinion from a wide range of disciplines in a fast and efficient manner,” explained tumor board member Gregory J. Kubicek, M.D., a Sylvester radiation oncologist.
Rather than focus primarily on cancer treatment, the cancer pain tumor board dove deep into creating individualized, pain-specific strategies, guided by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Adult Cancer Pain guidelines. The goal was to deliver faster, more effective relief, enabling patients to continue their treatment without interruption.
Moderated by members of the Department of Interventional Radiology, the board included core members from palliative care, radiation oncology, orthopaedic and spine surgery, neurological surgery, anesthesia, pain medicine and medical oncology.
“These specialties typically work in tandem, but it is quite unique to have a dedicated, multidisciplinary conference that aims to streamline and synchronize cancer-pain treatment plans,” said Amanda Rivera, M.D., assistant professor and director of brachytherapy in the Department of Radiation Oncology.
Driven by the belief that cancer pain should be treated with the same urgency and collaboration as the cancer itself, board members worked to help patients whose pain often fell outside the scope of traditional oncology or palliative care boards.
“The new cancer pain tumor board heightened awareness among referring faculty for new and/or underutilized techniques that directly address quality-of-life issues and indirectly may influence survival.”
