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CC BY 4.0 · Brazilian Journal of Oncology 2026; 22: s00451815742
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1815742
Original Article
Clinical Oncology

Crowdsourcing Molecular Knowledge: A Practical and Affordable Approach to Create a Molecular Tumor Board

Authors

  • Bruno Murad 

    1   Personal – Oncologia de Precisão e Personalizada, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

  • Auro Del Giglio 

    2   Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, Santo André, SP, Brazil

  • Andre M. Murad 

    1   Personal – Oncologia de Precisão e Personalizada, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

Funding The authors declare that they did not receive funding from agencies in the public, private or nonprofit sectors to conduct the present study.
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Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing virtual molecular tumor boards (MTBs) through crowdsourcing molecular knowledge among Brazilian physicians to comprehensively discuss complex genomic information on cancer patients.

Materials and Methods

We established a virtual group on WhatsApp (Meta Platforms, Inc.) consisting of medical oncologists, radiation therapists, oncogeneticists, radiologists, nuclear medicine personnel, oncologic surgeons, and pathologists from various institutions across Brazil.

Results

From September 2022 to May 2024, the group discussed 22 cases, averaging 3.3 patients per month. The main primary cancer types discussed included breast cancer (6 cases), lung cancer (5 cases), and colorectal cancer (4 cases). The group suggested management options for all cases discussed.

Conclusion

Crowdsourcing molecular knowledge through a virtual group of physicians has proven to be a feasible and effective solution for developing countries facing financial constraints to fund single institutional MTBs. This approach enabled comprehensive discussions on complex genomic information, providing valuable management options.

Keywords

crowdsourcing - precision oncology - virtual collaboration - low-resource settings - cancer genomics

Author Contributions

BM: data curation, investigation, methodology, writing - original draft, writing - review and editing, project administration; DGA: conceptualization, supervision, validation, writing - review and editing; AMM: writing - review and editing, conceptualization, investigation.




Publication History

Received: 11 June 2025

Accepted: 25 October 2025

Article published online:
07 April 2026

© 2026. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Bibliographical Record
Bruno Murad, Auro Del Giglio, Andre M. Murad. Crowdsourcing Molecular Knowledge: A Practical and Affordable Approach to Create a Molecular Tumor Board. Brazilian Journal of Oncology 2026; 22: s00451815742.
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1815742
 

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