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International Lung Cancer Summit (ILCS)

Unprecedented opportunity to hold an interactive virtual cancer meeting

<p class="article-intro">The 2<sup>nd</sup> ILCS constitutes an excellent platform for discussing the latest data on thoracic malignancies with renowned experts from all over the world. We talked to Solange Peters, MD, PhD, Professor of Medical Oncology at the University Hospital of Lausanne, and Alfredo Addeo, MD, consultant medical oncologist at the University Hospital of Geneva, who will be chairing this congress in Geneva on the 15<sup>th</sup> of May.</p> <hr /> <p class="article-content"><p><strong>Could you briefly describe the ILCS?</strong><br /> <strong>S. Peters:</strong> The ILCS offers a platform to exchange about lung cancer, the knowledge we have and the accumulating data. It is a very comprehensive conference with a multidisciplinary approach, reaching renowned specialists and making them get together in order to describe the results we are exposed to in the field of thoracic malignancies. The approach is quite unique, as it allows access to many people online, (health care) practitioners, oncologists, radio-oncologists and surgeons, with more than 25 countries being represented last year, and we hope for even more this year. Additionally, the atmosphere at the ILCS is really different: The idea is not to repeat what international congresses do. We need to somehow digest all the data presented there in order to bring them directly to the patients and to find some consensus. In a multidisciplinary approach, we need to find a way to make this data accessible for the practice, wherever you are, and for specialists from all fields, including the nurses. And very important here too: This meeting is organised by two centres, which have learnt to work together very closely: the &laquo;Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois&raquo; (CHUV) and the &laquo;H&ocirc;pitaux universitaires de Gen&egrave;ve&raquo; (HUG).</p> <p><strong>A. Addeo:</strong> The ILCS is a meeting aiming to all stakeholders that have an interest in thoracic malignancies. It intends to gather people from different countries and different disciplines, to discuss the daily difficulties we face every day, and also to talk about the patients that do not necessarily fit in any trial. Every one of us has such patients, where we are not sure what to do and how to treat them. And it is important to discuss about these cases in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere, where everybody feels absolutely comfortable to ask questions. This is what I think is the plus of attending this conference.</p> <p><strong>Who is the target audience of your conference?</strong><br /> <strong>S. Peters:</strong> The target audience of the ILCS is not defined strictly. It is open to any health care professional (HCP) and beyond who is interested in getting to know how to treat lung cancer and mesothelioma today. Of course, we try to focus on medical oncologists and surgeons, but also general family physicians, nurses and patient advocates are gladly invited. We are happy to get the knowledge about thoracic malignancies seen and sorted out by a group of specialists in order to make it useable and practice changing for the daily routine practice. In general, all people who can be interested in that field are welcome.</p> <p><strong>A. Addeo:</strong> I think the target audience for the ILCS is very broad: It goes from oncologists to pathologists to radiooncologists, and even to physicians and surgeons. But I think it is also important to host patient representatives, who are absolutely welcome, and all stakeholders that are dealing with thoracic malignancies in general.</p> <p><strong>Why should HCPs participate in this event?</strong><br /> <strong>S. Peters:</strong> I think HCPs should participate in the ILCS for many reasons. Firstly, it has become difficult to follow updates in oncology, in particular when you have to treat patients across diseases, being lung, breast or gastro-intestinal cancer.. You might need help and support in order to prioritize various treatment opportunities, biomarkers and data we are exposed to every year. It is important to create guidelines and consensus around the complexity of data. Secondly, the ILCS allows for an online connection, meaning that you can also participate live and ask questions. It is pretty unique to be able to actively take part in a conference from far away. If you cannot manage at the day of the conference, you are still able to connect afterwards and watch it for the first time later on or quietly for a second time, just by registering to the platform. I think it is really the format of the conference which is unique, as it allows for a digested, comprehensive coverage of the field of thoracic malignancies, including not only lung cancer, but also mesothelioma.</p> <p><strong>A. Addeo:</strong> The uniqueness of the ILCS lies in several aspects. To begin with, we have the opportunity to have an incredible faculty and people coming from different countries, with different backgrounds, who will certainly bring their own experiences. The second aspect is the friendly atmosphere due to the experts with that remarkable knowledge in their fields who are all so humble that you really feel you can ask them any question without any regret or fear. The third aspect is that we definitely need to digest all this information which we see on a weekly, if not daily basis. It might be difficult to interpret these data, to understand them, and to translate all that we have seen into our daily practice.</p> <p><strong>What will be the focus of the conference?</strong><br /> <strong>S. Peters:</strong> This international conference is very ambitious, in the way that the idea is to cover all data on thoracic malignancies, also those still emerging in early 2020. We need to make the best summary of them to use it for the daily practice. So, the focus of the conference is of course on the various types and stages of lung cancer, but also on mesothelioma. It should cover the practice guidelines and the consensus about how to use the new treatment strategies, like targeted therapies and immunotherapy. We will also talk about the remaining role of chemo- and radiation therapy and other important strategies, like surgery, and how to integrate the mentioned new treatments in the multimodality approach that has become a challenge. There will also be discussions about the major challenge of how to use all these biomarkers. Will you use all of them? How can they be applied for treatment decision making process?</p> <p><strong>A. Addeo:</strong> The focus of the conference will be on non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Naturally, data about immunotherapy will be discussed. Additionally, some of the questions arising about the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) will be addressed, as well as oncogenic driver mutations, which are becoming even more important, considering new data about new possible oncogenic drivers. We will also re-discuss the data about small cell lung cancer (SCLC) already presented elsewhere, and try to understand whether immunotherapy should be given to everybody or not. Last but not least, there will also be a presentation about mesothelioma, which remains a type of cancer with a poor prognosis. I am sure people will be delighted to get more information about this mortal disease.</p> <p><strong>How do you deal with the situation around the coronavirus outbreak and will the ILCS take place as planned?</strong><br /> <strong>S. Peters:</strong> The current circumstances around the novel coronavirus are extremely difficult for all of us. And yet, they provide an unprecedented opportunity to hold one of the most interactive virtual cancer meetings ever. While many meetings are being cancelled, we will still be able to hold the Lung Cancer Summit according to local safety requirements and get people from all over the world to participate live online. Many of us are affected by international travel bans and unfortunately nobody can foresee how long this exceptional state will last. At the same time, sharing medical information should not stop here and we will make use of digital channels to make medical education available for health care practitioners around the world and everyone else in the field of thoracic malignancies.</p> <p><strong>A. Addeo:</strong> Especially in these times, when a lot of attention is focused on the coronavirus, it is important to keep medical education ongoing. This is particularly important because we are dealing with a virus that affects the lungs. Our cancer patients unfortunately belong to a risk group of the virus and we therefore must join forces, bring together our experience and exchange information.<br /> We have therefore prepared ourselves for a &ldquo;Plan B&ldquo; and are very excited that we can still host the Lung Cancer Summit. If the restrictions remain in May, we will shift towards a more virtual meeting in order to cope with the situation. We have spoken to the faculty and everybody is very supportive that we can also run the meeting virtually if necessary. All speakers who will not be able travel to Switzerland will hold their presentations through broadcast from home. Of course we will still provide the possibility to everybody interested to dial in and watch the presentations online.</p></p>
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