Annual Meeting 2007 Report

INCTR's Annual Meeting 2007 was held from 1st–4th, March in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Annual Meeting is unique in having, as its entire focus, cancer in developing countries. It is held in a developing country, and a high proportion of its speakers come from developing countries. The purpose of the Annual Meeting is to bring together INCTR members from all over the world to be updated on INCTR programs and projects, to comment and exchange views relating to INCTR activities, to have the opportunity to participate in educational sessions devoted to various aspects of cancer control in developing countries and to consolidate the spirit of friendship and collaboration on equal terms that is central to INCTR's mission and ethos. Some 165 participants from 35 countries attended the 2007 meeting. Many of the presentations are available on INCTR’s portal (in the Education section).

INCTR Reports

Reports were given by the President, and by members of INCTR’s Special Panel and Clinical Research, Education and Palliative Care programs relating to the ongoing projects and new projects undertaken in 2006. These reports are available on INCTR’s portal in the main document library.

Proffered Papers

Each annual meeting provides opportunities for participants to present their own work. As an added incentive, a prize is given for the best posters in adult and pediatric oncology. There were eight oral presentations of participants’ own work and over 88 posters, which were displayed throughout the course of the meeting. These provided focal points for much lively discussion.

Conference Themes and Workshops

The main conference themes for 2007 were Global Cancer Control, Pediatric Oncology in Developing Countries (the My Child Matters program) and Cervical and Breast Cancers. Two workshops were held; a joint workshop with the European School of Oncology on The Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas, and a second, organized by INCTR’s retinoblastoma strategy group, on Retinoblastoma. On the final morning, a workshop was held on palliative care organized by INCTR’s PAX program with the support of the American Cancer Society.

Consenensus Panenels Consensus discussions are held in order to develop specific recommendations or draw conclusions on the selected topic. Two consensus panel discussions were held in 2007: one on Essential Cytotoxic Drugs: Cost, Quality, Availability and a second on Traditional Medical Systems: Complementary or Detrimental (see pages 10 and 11).

Committees, Strategy Groups, Boards and Forums

A number of committee and board meetings took place in the course of the meetings including an Office and Branch Meeting, in which ongoing activities, accounts, fund raising and communications throughout the network were discussed. These included an informal meeting of the Special Panel of the Advisory Board, which selects the future venues for the Annual Meeting, selects INCTR Awardees and provides advice on INCTR programs and a Members Forum, in which INCTR members have an opportunity to comment on any aspect of INCTR’s work, and to suggest new areas of endeavor.

Conference Evaluation

Between 90% and 97% of attendees who completed the evaluation form rated the meeting very good or excellent with regard to fulfillment of expectations re: learning outcomes, satisfaction with the content and quality of the education sessions and enhancement of the sense of an INCTR community. Similarly high ratings were given for the overall organization of the meeting, the time allowed for discussions and a number of other evaluation criteria.

Key Note Lectures The Global Cancer Problem. Ian Magrath, INCTR The Cancer Problem in Latin America; from Knowledge to Practice. Eduardo Cazap, Sociedad Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Oncologia Médica, Argentina Tobacco Control in Brazil. Gilberto Schwartzman, Academic Hospital, Federal University Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil Data and Ethics. Francis Crawley, INCTR and GCP Alliance – Europe, Belgium Role of Information Technology in Education, Patient Care and Research in Low Resource Settings. Frans Dhaenens, Agfa-Gevaert Group, Belgium

Meet the Experts Sessions Early morning “Meet the Expert Sessions” were attended by a large number of early-birds. Topics included: Investigator Responsibilities in Clinical Research, Population Based Cancer Registration and the Example of the Middle-East Cancer Consortium A Practical Approach to the Diagnosis of Lymphoma Nursing Oncology Management Strategy for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in Developing Countries Understanding Reasons for Late Diagnosis Collaboration in Retinoblastoma Use of Breast Cancer Treatment Guidelines in Developing Countries Improving Pathology Services in the Developing World Ethics in Pediatric Research The Data Base for Cancer Control in Developing Countries The St Jude Hospital Outreach Program Psychological Support of Cancer Patients Establishing Palliative Care Programs in Developing Countries The Role of Ethics Committees in Pediatric Research

INCTR AWARDS

At each of its Annual Meetings, INCTR gives two awards to individuals who have made outstanding contribution to cancer treatment or research in one or more developing countries. These awards are given in part to recognize the achievements of the recipients, and, since each awardee gives a presentation on his or her work, in part to inspire others to greater efforts by demonstrating that much can be achieved even when resources are limited.

The Nazli Gad-El-Mawla award is given for outstanding contributions to cancer control by an individual from a resource-poor country. The 2007 award was made to Dr. Ayan Cavdar From Ankara, Turkey, a pediatric oncologist. Dr. Cavdar is a founding member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) and former President of the Mediterranean Blood Club. She received the award for her major contributions to the development and evolution of pediatric oncology in Turkey. She is particularly known for her work in leukemias and lymphomas, including the demonstration of the high frequency and poor prognostic significance of orbital granulocytic sarcoma in children with acute myeloid leukemia, the predominance of the MC subtype of Hodgkin’s disease and its association with zinc deficiency and Epstein-Barr virus in young children, and the strong EBV association and mixed sporadic and endemic features of Burkitt’s lymphoma in Turkey.

The next INCTR meeting will be held in March 2009 in Turkey.

The Paul P. Carbone award is given for outstanding contributions to oncology or cancer research by an individual from a resource-rich country. The 2007 award was made to Dr. Rengaswamy Sankaranarayanan, a radiotherapist and epidemiologist, who is Head of the Screening Group at IARC, where he is responsible for IARC programs in the early detection of cancer in low-resource settings. Dr. Sankaranarayanan is particularly known for his work on the development of inexpensive but highly sensitive screening and treatment techniques of pre-malignant cervical cancer and has recently demonstrated, with colleagues, that screening for oral cancer is highly effective and can save lives. His work extends to health service delivery and various other aspects of cancer control.

INCTR Awards Best Pediatric Oncology Poster Dinand V., Arya L.S., Dawar R., Cancer Institute (WIA), Indrapastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi, India Role of CD 15 Expression and Proliferation Index in Relation to Treatment Response and Survival in Childhood Classical Hodgkin lymphoma Best Adult/Clinical Oncology Poster Priya R., Rajkumar T., Selvaluxmi G., Rajalekshmi K. and Singh S., Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai, India Phase I Trial of Dendritic Cell Vaccines for HPV Induced Cervical Cancer Special Achievements in Data Management Dr. Lukman Bashir, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex, Nigeria for contributions to INCTR’s project on The Treatment and Characterisation of Burkitt Lymphoma in Africa Selected (Based on Poster) to Attend a Workshop on Scientific Writing1 R. Priya, Cancer Institute (WIA), India P. Vaidya, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Nepal A. Madani, Hôpital du 20 Août 1953, Morocco B. Devi, Sarawak General Hospital, Malaysia R. Pasricha, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, India 1Supported by the Office of International Affairs of the National Cancer Institute