Friday, 15th November Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2024

Following the success of our Breakfast Session at the 2023 COSA ASM, and the release of the Roadmap to Reducing Financial Toxicity Experienced by People Affected by Cancer in March 2024, COSA’s Financial Toxicity Working Group invites you to continue to the conversation as we work together to address financial toxicity. This breakfast symposium will primarily focus on advocacy initiatives that are planned and underway to address financial toxicity in the Australian setting, and provide opportunity for participants to learn more about these initiatives, and how they can get involved.

Chairs:

• Professor Ray Chan, Flinders University

• Megan Varlow, Cancer Council Australia

Speakers:

• Lebogang Bokani Thomy, Metro South Health

• Dr Jordana McLoone, UNSW

• Sue Woodall, LiveWorkCancer

• Amanda Piper, Cancer Council Victoria

Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) are a cancer that is very poorly understood, misdiagnosed for around 5 years leading to advanced disease and incurable. There are over 5,700 new cases in 2024 (AIHW), 25,500+ living with NETs and 60% of cases are stage 4 by the time they are correctly diagnosed. NETs are complex and heterogenous, so care needs to be customised to each patient – no patient is the same. This breakfast session will have a multidisciplinary lens looking at many aspects of NETs including diet, medications, exercise physiology and support services available to NET patients to name a few. The supportive services available to NET patients are largely unknown to many HCPs resulting in poor referral patterns leaving patients to feel isolated and dealing with symptoms which greatly impact their outcomes and overall quality of life. Let’s create equity for this cancer, fill the gaps to access care and meet their needs, and provide NET patients with Optimal Care that they deserve.

Chair:

• Dr David Chan Med Onc Chair of COSA NET group Meredith Cummins CEO NeuroEndocrine Cancer Australia (NECA)

Speakers:

• Dr Erin Laing – NET dietitian – Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (PMCC)
• Professor Jane Turner (if available)/ Kate Wakelin – psychiatrist Qld & nurse PMCC
• Professor Lainie Cameron Qld– exercise physiologist
• Gastroenterologist (TBC)
• Meredith Cummins CEO NECA
• Palliative care perspective TBC

This breakfast session is sponsored by Ipsen. 

• Early Referral to Palliative care – Don’t make it weird!   - Joanne Doran
• Challenges for the Medical Oncologist in Managing Patients with a Cancer of Poor Prognosis - Wade Pullin
• Supporting Patients and their families with poor prognosis cancers – the role of the specialist cancer nurse - Anita Cox
• “Not if but when”: Managing fear of cancer recurrence in poor prognosis cancers - Joanne Shaw

• Impact of a national oncology mentorship program on burnout and professional fulfilment in medical oncology - Jia (Jenny) Liu
• It’s not yogapenia: Effective interventions to support wellbeing - Rhea Liang
• Singing in the RAIN: A reflective practice to promote joy - Matthew Links

Followed by panel discussion and Q&A

Introduction - Carolyn Mazariego

• Using patient-reported outcomes (PROs) for symptom monitoring - Julia Lai-Kwon
• Integrating PROMs in comprehensive cancer survivorship care - Jordana McLoone
• PROs & Machine Learning/AI - Georgina Kennedy
• PROs in Clinical Quality Registries and beyond - Sarah Weller

Followed by panel discussion and Q&A

• CUP overview, new developments in refining a diagnosis - Linda Mileshkin
• The role of the nurse specialist in supporting the patient and family after a CUP diagnosis - Sarah McLean
• Cancer of Unknown Primary - Shining light into the unknown - Ganessan kichenadasse

Followed by panel discussion and Q&A

• ReViTALISE - Addressing disparities in cancer outcomes in regional Victoria through regionally-led telehealth-enabled health services research - Craig Underhill
• Working towards equitable age-friendly care among older adults in regional  cancer care - Irene Blackberry
• Increasing immunotherapy clinical trial knowledge and access in rural, regional, and remote Victoria - Samuel Harris
• Increasing regional cancer registry trial access and participation in regional Victoria - Craig Underhill
• Building a virtual bridge to equitable health services research training in regional Victoria - Tenille Lewin
• Improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s access to cancer clinical trials in Yorta Yorta Country regional Victoria - Monica Green
• Improving equity of access to palliative and supportive care trials by establishing a regional network - Miriam Ferres
• Establishment of the ReViTALISE Consumer Group “Every VoiceCAN” - Kathleen Wilkins

• Monitoring the impact of cancer for Queenslanders: A comprehensive review of lung, pancreas, Merkel cell, and brain cancer - Euan Walpole
• Do patient characteristics influence the first-line chemotherapy regimen for adenocarcinoma of the pancreas?  - Bryan A Chan
• Variation in Merkel cell carcinoma outcomes: A Queensland perspective on a rare and aggressive skin cancer - Bryan Burmeister
• Understanding lung cancer: from diagnosis to survivorship - Jasotha Sanmugarajah
• Lost in Transition: the burden of brain tumours in the adolescent and young adult (AYA) population - Rick Walker

• New Frontiers in Epigenetic Therapeutics & real-time liquid biopsy based tracking: towards enhancing immunotherapy utility in breast cancer - Sudha Rao
• Digital Health underpinning AI in Healthcare - David Hansen
• Artificial Intelligence and the Diagnostic Revolution – how AI is transforming radiology - Catherine Jones
• Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Plenary: Using Curate.AI in patient care - Optimising dosing and patient longevity - Dean Ho

Followed by panel discussion and Q&A

Presenter: Dr Darren Saunders