2017 Winter Symposia Preview: ASCO to Debut Two New Thematic Meetings this year

Dec 22, 2016

By Christine Melchione, Staff Writer

Throughout the year, ASCO offers thematic meetings focused on different cancers and care topics for members of the oncology community. Six thematic symposia will take place between January and March 2017, including new meetings on immuno-oncology and the business of cancer care. During these meetings, attendees will enjoy focused education sessions and the opportunity to network with colleagues from around the world.

Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

The Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancers Symposium will be held January 19-21, 2017, at the Moscone West Building in San Francisco, CA. The symposium is cosponsored by ASCO, the American Gastroenterological Association Institute, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, and the Society of Surgical Oncology. As part of this year’s theme, “Multidisciplinary Precision Care: Progress and Innovation,” attendees will learn about new and innovative approaches to the treatment and management of GI cancers.

“The GI Cancers Symposium is the symposium to attend for state-of-the-art updates on cutting-edge translational research and the clinical management of patients with GI cancers,” said GI Symposium Steering Committee Chair William M. Grady, MD.

As Symposium Program Committee Chair Bertram Wiedenmann, MD, PhD, pointed out, the meeting also provides an opportunity for doctors, patients, and GI cancer survivors to network and share information. “It is important that patient representative groups share their expectations [with oncologists],” Dr. Wiedenmann said. “It should not just be doctors who tell patients what to expect.”

Cancer Survivorship Symposium

The Cancer Survivorship Symposium will be held January 27-28, 2017, in San Diego, CA, at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. The symposium is cosponsored by ASCO, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American College of Physicians. The meeting will focus on the importance of teamwork between oncologists and primary care physicians in order to improve the quality of overall cancer survivorship care.

Smita Bhatia, MD, MPH, a member of the 2017 Cancer Survivorship Symposium Steering Committee, noted the urgency of improving survivorship care as more patients are living longer following their diagnosis: “Nearly 65% of adults diagnosed with cancer in [high-income countries] are expected to live at least 5 years after the cancer is diagnosed. The Cancer Survivorship Symposium will focus on the role of genetics in cancer survivorship, the unique challenges faced by adolescent and young adult cancer survivors, and the challenges [oncologists face treating] elderly patients with cancer.”

These topics are particularly important because they “represent understudied areas and will shed light on new work in these areas,” Dr. Bhatia said.

The Cancer Survivorship Symposium is designed for both medical professionals and cancer survivors. Many survivors receive care from primary care practitioners, and some survivors receive care from multiple providers, making collaboration and coordination of care a necessity. Survivors and care providers would both benefit from attending the symposium, where they can learn strategies to create collaborative survivorship plans.

The symposium will include the presentation of the inaugural Ellen L. Stovall Award and Lecture for Advancement of Cancer Survivorship Care.

The meeting program will feature a President’s Panel comprised of current and former presidents of the Symposium cosponsors. Wanda D. Filer, MD, MBA, FAAFP, of the American Academy of Family Physicians; Nitin S. Damle, MD, MS, FACP, of the American College of Physicians; and Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO, of ASCO, will discuss what survivorship means to the membership of their respective organizations and how, as leaders, they believe the broader health care community can improve upon survivorship care.

Finally, the Symposium will host concurrent Breakout Sessions, which allow attendees to select learning opportunities based on their experience level and interests. These Breakout Sessions will explore topics such as survivorship care basics, disparities in cancer survivorship, and issues unique to adolescent and young adult cancer survivors.

Genitourinary Cancers Symposium

The Genitourinary (GU) Cancers Symposium will be held in Orlando, FL, at Rosen Shingle Creek on February 16-18, 2017. Cosponsored by ASCO, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, and the Society of Urologic Oncology, this year’s theme is “Translating Research to Value-Based and Patient- Centric Care.”

The symposium will provide multidisciplinary clinical perspectives on new research and will explore the latest scientific advances in GU cancers. This year’s sessions will feature extended question-and-answer periods, which will offer greater opportunities for in-depth discussion. Keynote speakers include Charles G. Drake, MD, PhD, of Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, who will discuss the immunology of prostate cancer; David J. McConkey, PhD, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, who will discuss urothelial carcinoma; and W. Marston Linehan, MD, of the National Cancer Institute, who will discuss genetic conditions with predisposition to renal cell carcinoma.

The hotel reservation and early registration deadline is January 11, 2017, at 11:59 PM (EST).

New this year: ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium

The inaugural ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium, cosponsored by ASCO and the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, will take place on February 23-25, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency Orlando, in Orlando, FL.

“The conference will provide a forum to discuss both laboratory and clinical advances of many types of immuno-oncology agents,” said Program Committee Chair Mary L. (Nora) Disis, MD. “The pace of the science, clinical trial development, and drug approval makes immuno-oncology an ideal field to highlight for a conference.”

The symposium will benefit attendees from all areas of the immuno-oncology field. General Sessions will feature the latest clinical data and implications for patient care. During Networking Sessions, faculty will discuss specific disease sites and their unique treatments. Immunology 101 Sessions will cover the basics of immunotherapy, and Evening Highlights Sessions will feature prominent takeaway messages from the content presented each day.

Although there are many highlights in the inaugural Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium program, for Dr. Disis, the most exciting part of the conference is “the breadth of the field that will be covered. We will have sessions on all aspects of immuno-oncology. In addition, we will have two sessions on immunologic biomarkers where we will discuss emerging data,” she said.

The hotel reservation and early registration deadline is January 18, 2017, at 11:59 PM (EST).

New this year: ASCO Oncology Practice Conference

The inaugural ASCO Oncology Practice Conference will be held March 2, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, in Orlando, FL. This meeting will focus on the business of cancer care and will address the regulatory, administrative, and legal challenges faced by oncology practices in the current dynamic environment.

The meeting program will feature presentations on the following topics:

  • A review of the final MACRA rule, useful and impactful metrics to affect practice, and a discussion on bundling.
  • Teams and change management, design and execution of an academic and community hybrid model, with a discussion on “supergroups.”
  • An overview of critical topics on sustaining a practice, including lessons learned from telemedicine, business relationship negotiation skills, and physician compensation in a value-based world.
  • Review of alternate payment models featuring a discussion on the oncology care model, ASCO’s Patient-Oriented Oncology Payment (PCOP) model implementation, and pathways.

The meeting will be held the day before the ASCO Quality Care Symposium, and attendees can maximize their time by attending both meetings; attendees who register for both meetings will receive a $100 rebate. For more information, or to be added to the ASCO Oncology Practice Conference mailing list, email opc@asco.org.

The hotel reservation and early registration rate deadline is January 25, 2017, at 11:59 PM (EST).

ASCO Quality Care Symposium

All oncology care professionals interested in measuring and improving the quality and safety of cancer care delivery are invited to attend the ASCO Quality Care Symposium, March 3-4, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, in Orlando, FL.

The symposium will promote innovation, collaboration, and cooperation in cancer-focused quality measurement and improvement and health services research. The event will bring together top leaders in the field to share strategies and methods for measuring, improving, and implementing best practices in the quality and safety of cancer care.

The hotel reservation and early registration deadline is January 25, 2017, at 11:59 PM (EST).

 

Reprinted and adapted with permission from the ASCO Daily News Fall Supplement.

Thematic symposia are supported in part by the Conquer Cancer Foundation.

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