The 2nd World Congress of the International Academy of Oral Oncology (IAOO) was held in Toronto, Canada from 8–11 July 2009 under the chairmanship of Patrick Gullane (Canada) and scientific committee co-chairman’s Ralph Gilbert (Canada) and Alexander D Rapidis (Greece). A record number of 850 participants from 57 countries around the world and coming from all five continents attended the congress.
The IAOO, although a relatively new association (founded in 2005), already has a nucleus of more than 300 fellows, representing all clinical and scientific disciplines active in the fight against oral cancer. The Academy had its 1st World Congress in 2007 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. This was great success attended by more than 750 participants coming from 52 countries around the world representing all five continents. The IAOO is a charitable, not-for-profit organization registered in the UK, and is associated with the Journal of Oral Oncology.
The 2nd World Congress was cosponsored by the WHO and supported by 11 powerful national and international scientific societies dealing with head and neck surgery and oncology. These included the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the American Head and Neck Society (AHNS), the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the British Association of Head and Neck Oncologists (BAHNO), the Canadian Association of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, the European Association of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery (EACMS), the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS), the European Head and Neck Society (EHNS), the International Federation of Head and Neck Oncologic Societies (IFHNOS), and the Brazilian and Korean Societies of Head and Neck Surgery. All of these distinguished societies organized their own sponsored symposia and emphasized the multidisciplinary need in the treatment of head and neck cancer and especially squamous cell carcinoma of the oral mucosa. In all of these symposia leading clinicians, representing either the Presidents or leading members of their Governing Councils, gave very well-attended and interesting individual presentations in established, emerging and innovative approaches in oral cancer management.
The main scientific program of the congress included six keynote addresses presented by world leaders in their respective fields and these included: Technology and Innovation, David Jaffray (Canada); Basic Science, Maura Gillison (USA); Molecular Targeted Therapy, Merrill Kies (USA); Surgery, Richard Reznick (Canada); Radiation Oncology, Brian O’Sullivan (Canada); Reconstructive Surgery, James S Brown (UK).
The WHO perspective on oral cancer was addressed during the opening ceremony by Daniel Kandelman, Canada, due to the commitments of Poul Erik Petersen (Switzerland), Director of WHO Oral Health Program, in the WHO Annual General Assembly in Geneva Switzerland. In this important event issues of oral healthcare were included for the first time in the main agenda of the WHO General Assembly requiring the presence of the Director of Oral Health.
The Presidential Lecture was given by IAOO President for the last 4 years, Jatin P Shah, from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NY, USA. The Changing Role of Surgery and the Surgeon in the Management of Head and Neck Cancer was the title of the oration. Shah gave an overwhelming speech and stressed the important role of surgery in the management of oral cancer and the way that surgery interacts in all phases of treatment whether this represents a monotherapy or combinations of therapeutic modalities such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The role of reconstructive surgery to maintain the quality of life of oral cancer patients was also stressed. Jean Louis Lefebvre (France) bestowed to Jatin P Shah a special recognition award for his 4-year tenure as President of the Academy.
In the eight-panel discussions performed during the main program, 48 leading clinicians and scientists presented in detail and in a most comprehensive and clear manner the entire spectrum of oral cancer diagnosis and management. In the panel on Biological markers of diagnosis and prognosis Joseph Califano (USA), Bhuvanesh Singh (USA), Barbara Wollenberg (Germany) and Ranju Ralhan (Canada) presented the recent developments on molecular biomarkers and genetic alterations that show diagnostic and prognostic significance in oral cancer. The role of pretreatment assessment in oral cancer and especially fludeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT), fluorescence visualization and the role of CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were discussed by Miriam Rosin (Canada), John Waldron (Canada), Hilda Stambuck (USA) and Robert Baatenborg de Jong (The Netherlands). Minimally invasive surgery in head and neck cancer represents a new aspect of treatment and the indications as well as the various endoscopic techniques were presented by Petra Ambrosch (Germany), Francisco Civentos (USA), Jonathan Irish (Canada) and Jason Newman (USA). During the last 5 years the role of human papillomavirus (HPV) as an etiopathogenic agent in nonsmoker and nondrinker patients with oropharyngeal cancer is well established. The Impact of HPV on the management of oral and oropharyngeal cancer was the theme of the next panel discussion in which Brian O’Sullivan (Canada), Jan Vermorken (Belgium), Peter Rhys Evans (UK) and Jay Boyle (USA), presented the recent clinical and experimental research on the subject. Treatment morbidities and survivorship were discussed by Stephen Sonis (USA), Kian Ang (USA), James Sciubba (USA) and Jolie Ringash (Canada). Nonsurgical treatment modalities, and especially chemoradiation, are known to carry a number of adverse reactions. Acute and late toxicities to the oral mucosa in the form of mucositis, xerostomia and radiation fibrosis influence the quality of the life of the patients. The very important subject of tissue engineering, biomaterials and distraction osteogenesis in craniofacial reconstruction as well as the application of autologous platelet adhesives were discussed by Cameron Cloaknon (Canada), Douglas Chepeha (USA), David Wiesenfeld (Australia) and John Yoo (Canada). The use of molecular agents in the clinical practice of head and neck oncology has shown tremendous advancements in the last 3 years. During this time an enormous amount of knowledge was gathered from a large number of clinical trials. The progress in targeted therapies was presented by pioneers of this field which included Christopher Nutting (UK), Joseph Califano, Jean Bourhis (France) and Lisa Licitra (Italy). Lastly, the long-term results of functional reconstruction of surgical defects of the orofacial region and the sequelae from some forms of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to the oral cancer patients were presented by Joseph Helman (USA), Peter Cordeiro (USA), Neil Futran (USA) and Ted Teknos (USA). These were covered under the title ‘The “disappearing” jaw’.
A total of 16 instructional courses from leading clinicians and scientists were provided for interested colleagues and they were very well attended. There were also 20 oral abstract sessions in which 200 oral presentations, selected from 800 submissions, were presented. The scientific program was complemented with 450 posters divided into three different sessions according to their scientific content.
Two equivocal and contradictory subjects were discussed in two sessions of grand debates. The first on the treatment of advanced oral cancer was chaired by Jan Olofsson (Norway) and moderated by Ralph Gilbert, whereas Vijay Haribhakti (India), presented his expertise on surgery and June Corry (Australia), on organ preservation strategies. In the second grand debate and before the closing ceremony the Officers of the IAOO and members from the Local Organizing Committee were ‘stumped’ by Ashok Shaha (USA). The panelists, Patrick Gullane, Ralph Gilbert, Crispian Scully, CBE (UK), Alexander D Rapidis and Ian Witterick (Canada) in a session chaired by Jean Louis Lefebvre and Jatin P Shah, answered questions regarding the management of difficult and complicated cases, and the audience interacted with the faculty in a very positive way.
The meeting was concluded with the Supportive Care IAOO Seminar on Prevention and Management of Complications of Cancer Therapy sponsored by Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) and International Society of Oral Oncology (ISOO) organized and chaired by Crispian Scully. During the 5-hour crash course there were two panel discussions on oral complications from radiation therapy and chemotherapy and one on oral health management of the oncologic patient. All aspects of prevention and management of radiation toxicities in the oral cavity and current treatment strategies of mucositis and other complications from the use of antineoplastic drugs were discussed along with the strategies in oral and dental rehabilitation and the quality of life after chemoradiation of head and neck cancer. The Seminar was well attended with more than 150 participants.
Soo Khee Chee from Singapore, as the Program Chair of the 3rd World Congress of IAOO, gave a beautiful presentation on the host city, Singapore, and extended a very warm welcome to participants of the 2nd World Congress to meet again there in 2011.
The elections that followed the General Assembly appointed the new President of IAOO Jean Louis Lefebvre and the councilors for the period 2009–2011.
In the two and a half days of the Congress, apart from the concentrated scientific knowledge, old friendships were strengthened and new ones were made. The scientific importance of the meeting was also reflected from the high standards of the submitted papers, and the Awards Committee, chaired by John D Landgon (UK), had a difficult task in deciding the winners of the oral and poster awards. We all left beautiful Toronto with the promise to meet each other again in 2 years in another continent and another beautiful and enchanting city, Singapore.
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.
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