American Radium Society 92nd Annual Meeting

Abstract

We provide a summary of the 92nd Annual Meeting of the American Radium Society (ARS), the oldest organization devoted to the study of cancer. This May 2010 meeting included a postgraduate course/contouring laboratory, seven scientific sessions, two keynote lectures, one Janeway lecture, four Panel presentations, one debate, one satellite symposium and 107 poster presentations – details of each of these activities are provided. All of these academic activities revolved around the major meeting theme of ‘Improved Outcomes Through Judicious Applications of Advanced Technology’.

Keywords::

• cancer
• outcomes
• radiotherapy

Conference history/background

The American Radium Society (ARS) is the oldest organization devoted to the study of cancer. Founded in 1916, it is a multidisciplinary society including oncologists of all clinical specialties (e.g., radiation oncology, surgical oncology, medical oncology and gynecological oncology) as well as basic scientists (including cancer biologists, imaging scientists and medical physicists) [101]. The objectives of the ARS are to: promote the study of cancer in all of its aspects, encourage liaison among the various medical specialists and allied scientists concerned with the treatment of cancer, and continue scientific study of the treatment of the cancer patient through its annual meeting and educational publications [101]. The focus of the current communication is to focus on this last objective, namely, the annual meeting. The major theme of the ARS annual meeting varies each year; in 2010, the theme was ‘Improved Outcomes Through Judicious Applications of Advanced Technology’. The location and date of the meeting is decided upon by the ARS Executive Council, typically 1–2 years in advance of a given meeting. The location is sometimes domestic within the USA and sometimes international. This year’s annual meeting was held in Cancun, Mexico at the JW Marriott from 1–5 May 2010. Although the detailed proceedings are available in a different published journal [1], the current report serves to provide a condensed overview with major highlights.

Conference report

Day 1 (1 May 2010)

The first major academic activity on the first day was the postgraduate course, which consisted of a contouring laboratory. The anatomic information needed to design a radiotherapy treatment plan is subtly different to that needed to make a diagnosis. This contouring laboratory was introduced in 2009 and was hugely successful as it satisfied an unmet need of many practitioners. The goal of this postgraduate course was to bring the resident and faculty physician enrollees up to speed on the latest concepts in contouring target volumes and avoidance structures in order to maximize the therapeutic ratio when delivering radiotherapy to these sites. This year’s contouring laboratory focused on breast cancer and head and neck cancer. The course Chair for this postgraduate course was Sue S Yom. Faculty directors for the breast contouring session were Bruce Haffty and Sharad Goyal and for the head and neck contouring session were Jonathan J Beitler and Sue S Yom. In addition, the welcome reception and the poster tours also took place on day 1. The poster sessions were a major component of the academic activities, with 107 posters (selected from over 200 submissions) spanning all of the major oncologic topics; the poster viewing was accessible throughout the meeting.

Day 2 (2 May 2010)

The day’s major academic activities began with the President’s lecture. The 2010 ARS President, Raymond Sawaya, gave a discourse on the ‘Anatomy of a Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Neuro-Oncology Center’. Here he described the inception and trajectory of the Neuro-Oncology Center at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX (USA). The initial design, the coordination of patient care and research activities, and the impact on patient care and research were described. The importance of having professionals from all major disciplines represented and coordinating care was discussed in detail. After the President’s lecture, scientific sessions were held in the area of breast cancer (moderated by Bruce Haffty and J Frank Wilson) and CNS/pediatric cancer (moderated by Arnold Paulino and Shiao Woo). Following these scientific sessions, a Panel presentation in the area of technology and outcomes was held. The Chair of this Panel was Andre Konski and the Panel representatives were Wade M Aubry, Jeff J Michalski and John Davis. The Panel discussed new technology application from both a physician and a payer vantage with particular emphasis on robotic prostatectomy. The day’s academic activities concluded with a ‘meet the Professor luncheon’ (where resident physicians had the opportunity to interact with genitourinary cancer expert Peter Johnstone) and a radiosurgery satellite symposium – Eric Chang and John A Kalapurakal spoke at this Elekta (Stockholm, Sweden)-sponsored symposium focusing on clinical applications of γ-knife radiosurgery.

Day 3 (3 May 2010)

This day began with a self-assessment module (SAM) on small-cell lung cancer during which Kenneth Rosenzweig discussed advances in chemotherapy, chest radiotherapy and prophylactic cranial radiation. Notably, this is the first year that ARS SAMs will be available on the website after the meeting for those who are interested in self-assessment as well as for those needing the credit for the American Board of Radiology (ABR) Maintenance of Certification process. Following this small-cell lung cancer SAM, the first keynote lecture of the meeting was delivered by K Kian Ang – this keynote was entitled ‘MDACC-RTOG Alliance in Customizing Head and Neck Cancer’. The significant experiences in integrating radiotherapy, basic science, novel agents and clinical trials at this challenging disease site were reviewed. Following the keynote lecture, scientific sessions were held in the area of head and neck cancer/lung cancer (moderated by Roy Decker and Ben Slotman) and lymphoma (moderated by Steve Hahn and Richard Hoppe). Following these scientific sessions, a Panel presentation in the area of targeted therapy was held. The Chair of this Panel was Anne S Tsao and the Panel representatives were Jeffrey Bogart, K Kian Ang and Andre A Konski. The Panel discussed the mechanisms and clinical evaluations of novel targeted agents (notably EGF receptor inhibitors, IGF receptor inhibitors and Src pathway inhibitors) and their integration into the clinic, including cost/benefit analysis. The academic activities concluded with a meet the Professor luncheon (where resident physicians had the opportunity to interact with gastrointestinal cancer expert Christopher Crane).

Day 4 (4 May 2010)

The fourth meeting day began with the ARS Business Meeting. This meeting was open to all ARS members, and updates from all major committees were presented. Specifically, in order, the reports reviewed were that of the President, Secretary and Membership and Credentials Committee, Treasurer, Constitution and Bylaws Committee, Committee on Educational Resources, Industry Relations/Development Committee, Janeway Lecture Committee, Nominating Committee, Resident and Attending Educational Committee, Website and Public Relations Committee, 2010 Annual Meeting Scientific Program Committee, 2011 Annual Meeting Scientific Program Committee, and the Executive Director, and finally, an introduction of the 2011 ARS President (Peter Johnstone). After this business meeting, the annual Janeway lecture was delivered by Charles M Balch, entitled ‘Melanoma as an Example of Evidence-Based Medicine’. Balch, a surgeon and international expert on melanoma, presented the advances over the past several decades on the management of melanoma, with particular emphasis on how many of the obstacles to conducting important clinical trials in this area have been overcome. Following the Janeway lecture, a scientific session was held for the Young Oncologist Essay award winners (moderated by Peter Johnstone and Raymond Sawaya). After this, a debate was held between James D Cox and Joel E Tepper (and moderated by Steve Hahn) on the topic of ‘Proton Radiotherapy for Lung/Prostate: Should Randomized Studies be Required for Adopting New Technologies?’ Cox presented details of the randomized trial of proton therapy for lung cancer and the obstacles in running randomized trials in other disease sites, notably the prostate. Tepper, who stated his support for new technologies including protons, presented strong counterarguments in support of the view that randomized trials the area of prostate proton radiotherapy are necessary. Following the debate, a scientific session was held in the area of breast cancer (moderated by Thomas Buccholz and Sharad Goyal). In the final academic activity of the day, a Panel presentation was held in the area of CNS/stereotactic radiotherapy. The Panel Chair was Iris C Gibbs and the Panel speakers were Jeffrey Weinberg and Eric Chang. The evolving role of stereotactic radiosurgery for spinal tumors and brain tumors (including noncancerous conditions) was reviewed.

Day 5 (5 May 2010)

The fifth day began with a SAM on pediatric cancer during which Arnold C Paulino reviewed treatment-related late side effects in pediatric malignancies and how some of these side effects can be minimized or avoided. Following this pediatric SAM, the second keynote lecture of the meeting was delivered by Richard Wahl, entitled ‘Molecular Imaging-Guided Radiation Oncology’. The developments of including metabolic imaging, image registration/fusion and radioimmunotherapy techniques in both radiology and nuclear medicine were discussed in detail. Following the keynote, scientific sessions were held in the area of genitourinary cancer (moderated by Ashesh B Jani and Matthew Abramowitz) and in the area of gastrointestinal cancer/gynecological cancer (moderated by Kaled Alektiar and Elin Sigurdson). The final activity of the day (and of the meeting) was a Panel presentation on liver tumors. The Panel Chair was Elin Sigurdson, and the Panel representatives were Yu-Ning Wong, Andrew A Gumbs and Higinia R Cardenes. The roles of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy for hepatic metastases were discussed.

Conclusion

Overall, the 92nd meeting of the ARS was very successful in meeting its educational objectives. As described in detail above, the meeting included a postgraduate course/contouring laboratory, seven scientific sessions, two keynote lectures, one Janeway lecture, four Panel presentations, one debate, one satellite symposium and 107 poster presentations. All of these academic activities revolved around the major meeting theme of translating advancements in technology to improved treatment outcomes.

Correspondence

Readers may contact the American Radium Society[101], and email [email protected], whose Membership division can put a particular reader in touch with an individual cited in this article.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.