PURPOSE: To establish a transborder virtual tumor board (VTB) fostering state-of-the-art management of cancer patients by exchanging knowledge and expertise among oncologists in Central and Southeastern Europe (CEE). METHODS: We established and implemented a VTB based on the WebEx platform. This allowed for password-protected and secure upload of patient cases to be presented and discussed among colleagues from various oncology centers scattered throughout CEE in order to arrive at a recommendation for further diagnoses and/or treatment. RESULTS: A total of 73 cases from 16 oncology centers located in 11 CEE countries were uploaded by 22 physicians; 71 were discussed over the course of 17 virtual meetings between June 2018 and May 2019 and 12 different kinds of malignant diseases were discussed with lung cancer (46.6%), melanoma (19.2%) and bladder cancer (13.6%) being the most commonly presented tumor entities. Of the discussed patients, 93.3% had stage IV disease at the time of presentation, 62.6% received chemotherapy or targeted treatment and 67.1% were treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPIs). The most common causes for presentation and discussion of patient cases were related to the use of ICPIs (80%). CONCLUSION: When the need for expertise exceeds locally available resources, web-based VTBs provide a feasible way to discuss patient cases and arrive at conclusions regarding diagnoses and/or treatment across large geographic distances. Moreover, VTBs provide an innovative way for proper, state-of-the-art management of patients with malignant diseases in times of social distancing and the resulting need for restricted interaction during the current SARS-CoV‑2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2) pandemic.

3rd Medical Oncology Department Agii Anargiri General Hospital and Cancer Center Athens Greece

Central European Cooperative Oncology Group Ohmanngasse 26 1190 Vienna Austria

Department of Medical Oncology at Ion Chiricuta Institute of Oncology Cluj Napoca Romania

Department of Medical Oncology Institute of Oncology Ljubljana Ljubljana Slovenia

Department of Medical Oncology University Clinic Golnik Golnik Slovenia

Department of Medical Oncology University Hospital of Ioannina Ioannina Greece

Department of Medicine 1 Medical University Vienna General Hospital Waehringer Guertel 18 20 1090 Vienna Austria

Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy Medical University Gdansk Gdansk Poland

Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy University Hospital Hradec Králové Hradec Králové Czech Republic

Department of Oncology at the Hospital of St Zoerardus Zobor Nitra Teaching Base of the Slovak Medical University Bratislava Bratislava Slovakia

Department of Oncology at UMF Carol Davila Bucharest Romania

Department of Oncology University Hospital Centre Zagreb Zagreb Croatia

Department of Oncotherapy University of Szeged Szeged Hungary

Oncohelp Oncology Center Timisoara Romania

Oncology Unit Clinical Center of Sarajevo University Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina

Vienna Cancer Center Vienna Hospital Association and Medical University Vienna Vienna Austria

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