There will be something for everybody at this year’s European Cancer Congress, ranging from basic and translational cancer research through to the very latest results from phase III clinical trials.

In this article, the scientific co-chairs of the meeting, Peter Naredi and Elisabeth de Vries, give us a preview of some of the themes, tracks or sessions that they are particularly excited about. These include the integrated sessions and the tracks on immunotherapy, young oncologists, and clinical trial design and regulatory affairs.

“Most exciting for me is that this is a true multidisciplinary European congress,” says Peter, who is Professor of Surgery and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. “All disciplines will find that there is an excellent programme for them. It’s not a congress for just one, two or three disciplines, but for many different professions.”

Elisabeth, who is head of the Department of Medical Oncology at the University Medical Centre Groningen, The Netherlands, agrees. “For anyone involved in cancer care, this is a really nice meeting because it gives you this extremely broad perspective; there are experts from everywhere and from all different backgrounds. There are some new tracks and there will be presentations and interactions in your own field of interest.

Read more

The patient perspective is a key element of the European Cancer Congress’ collaborative innovation philosophy aimed at improving outcomes for patients. The ECC2015 scientific programme will provide a number of opportunities for healthcare professionals to learn about the patient perspective on pressing issues of cancer care.

Among these key issues are the clinical benefits of new drugs. Accurately assessing anticipated clinical benefits versus the risks of new anticancer therapies is a crucial part of licensing, reimbursement and clinical decision-making processes. However, an effective, standard format for the grading of clinical benefit has, so far, eluded the oncology field. At ECC2015, within the Regulatory Affairs Track, healthcare professionals and patients will discuss the “Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale for New Anticancer Drugs” which seeks to finally address this gap. Meaningful clinical benefit, of course, encompasses overall survival, progression free survival and therapies which avoid high levels of toxicity. Still, clinical benefit, for the patient, also means better quality of life, the ability to feel well enough to return to work, gaining independence again, and a host of other positive things. It is crucial to incorporate the patient perspective into the creation of this scale because all stakeholders involved in bringing a new therapy to people affected by cancer – study investigators, industry, clinicians, policy makers – must understand what constitutes a meaningful benefit to patients if such a scale is to have value in the real world.

Read more

For the #ECC2015 our mobile app has been maximised to help you make the most of your congress experience – and it’s ready to download today!

The app most importantly lists the programme which you can access by track, by speaker, by type, by search, by time or date etc. Abstracts will be available in the app two weeks before the event. You can also save and export your favourite sessions to your device calendar. You can check the floorplan for quick orientation, consult all exhibitors, various practical details, take notes as well as sharing information on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook etc.

The ECCO App has been downloaded over 20,000 times so far and we expect that number to rise significantly keeping in mind that there will be no printed programme book provided during the congress. Needless to say the app works in offline mode.

Both the environment and you will benefit since you will always have an updated programme and paper consumption is avoided. It’s easy to download the ECCO App on iPhone, iPad, or Android devices. 

We have many great reasons why you should forward this newsletter to your network so that they can also register for the #ECC2015:

• ECC2015 is the largest European cancer platform this year
• ECC2015 will have an impressive number of late-breaking abstracts presentations
• Our late-breaking submission policy is specially designed to embrace promising new developments
• ECC2015’s global impact: Practice-changing data presented at the Congress gets widely disseminated by hundreds of journalists
• Unique Multidisciplinary Approach: More integrated sessions bringing about dialogue and debate in overlapping areas of scientific research
• Oncopolicy: The only European cancer meeting with a dedicated Oncopolicy track
• Our Patient Advocacy Track will highlight key issues for patients and survivors
• Vienna, Trailblazer in Medicine – Host City has a track record as leader in medical thought and practice

Get more unique selling points right here

Three workshops presented by Dr. David Ashton focus on three interrelated levels of leadership.
Preferably, as a current or aspiring leader, you should consider attending the full programme.  It will challenge you and provide you with invaluable input on three levels. 
Find out more

Contact

ECCO18-ESMO40
Secretariat
Avenue E. Mounier 83
1200 Brussels
Belgium
Tel:  +32 2 775 02 01
Fax: +32 2 775 02 00

Email: [email protected]
Website: ECC2015
Hashtag: #ECC2015