By Amy D'Orazio, PhD, Kathy LaTour. and Kavita Maung, PhD

Doctors‚ Doctors Everywhere
More than 20‚000 people gathered in Orlando‚ Florida‚ the weekend of May 16 to talk about cancer at the 38th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). From its inception in the mid ’60s‚ when fewer than 200 gathered for a few meetings about advances in cancer‚ ASCO has grown to this year’s 934 presentations made by 2‚473 faculty.

“ASCO is not just a story of size‚ but an evolution of thinking‚” In the opening ceremony‚ ASCO President Larry Norton‚ MD‚ Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center‚ reiterated one of the goals of ASCO: common concern for the patient with cancer‚ basic research‚ clinical investigation‚ and better utilization current means.

Dr. Norton said. He talked about the introduction of targeted therapies‚ interventional cancer prevention‚ health services research‚ stem cell transplantation‚ hereditary susceptibility‚ and molecular oncology.

Much of the conference looked at new targeted therapies like those covered in CURE. Indeed‚ Andrew von Eschenbach‚ MD‚ the newly appointed director of the National Cancer Institute and a cancer survivor‚ spoke of the evolution of cancer care in the 21st century as moving from “weapons of destruction to interventions for control and prevention.” Dr. von Eschenbach said that although the seek- and-destroy paradigm has helped to increase five-year survival rates‚ overall survival rates are still at unacceptable levels‚ adding that “we are looking at attacking cancer with a combination of integrated therapies.”

The four-day event was filled from morning to night with presentations on the latest success in clinical trials for new drugs and new drug combinations as well as new research directions and a myriad of other clinical and research questions.

Education sessions focused on issues of importance to physicians and patients‚including complementary and alternative healing‚ cancer genetics‚ pain management‚ doctor-patient communication‚ challenges in dealing with an older population‚ and new approaches for a wide range of cancers.
To get an overview of these presentations‚ go to www.plwc.org (People living with cancer)‚ ASCO’s newly launched website‚ which gives you access to all the findings at ASCO. There are also sections of the People Living With Cancer website dedicated to specific types of cancer‚ clinical trialsv symptom management‚ caregiving‚ cancer news‚ family and friends‚ ASCO resources and more. ASCO members have approved the medical content on the website‚ so readers can feel confident that the information is medically correct and up-to-date. Watch for announcements about the release of the second edition of ASCO’s Cancer Handbook‚ new ASCO Patient Guides‚ and exciting features coming soon to the website.In his concluding remarks‚ Dr. Norton said‚“Every one of us could be a cancer patient‚ every one of us could be a cancer healer‚ and it is finding and perfecting that healer in each one of us that is the value that makes ASCO work.”