This year’s Gathering Around Cancer 2022 conference will see a range of experts from Ireland and abroad delivering presentations relevant to all aspects of cancer care.
This year’s Gathering Around Cancer 2022 conference will be held in the Croke Park Conference Centre, Dublin, on 17 and 18 November and will feature a packed agenda delivered by renowned experts in their fields. This year’s welcome address will be delivered by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.
The organisers have said their aim is to focus on topics that change and improve the approach to the management of cancer care. This includes providing clinical updates and fostering research collaborations. There will also be a focus on amending and improving care pathways as evidence and clinical circumstances change. The organisers have stressed that they always welcome input regarding topics, suggestions for speakers, and general ideas on how to keep the conference fresh and relevant with each passing year.
Each year, the conference attracts speakers from international centres and the first day will feature a presentation by Dr Sonya Chew of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre (MSKCC), New York, who will deliver a presentation titled ‘Identifying mechanisms of resistance arising from cyclin-dependent kinase 4/5 inhibitor exposure that impact on breast cancer brain metastases progression-free survival’.
In the first session – ‘Irish Investigators Abroad Part 1’ – Dr Chew will be joined by Dr Darren Cowzer of MSKCC, who will provide an update on ‘Circulating tumour DNA in gastrointestinal cancers’, and Dr Hazel O’Sullivan of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in London, with the session rounded-off by Dr Niamh Peters of the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, UK. The first day of the conference also features a session on ‘Gynaecology update’ and is chaired by Dr Geraldine O’Sullivan Coyne of the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, and Prof Donal Brennan of the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin.
Day two of the conference features an equally packed agenda and includes a ‘Breast cancer update’ chaired by Prof Cathy Kelly of the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin. Another session on day two is dedicated to genitourinary cancer and is chaired by Dr Richard Bambury of Cork University Hospital and Prof John McCaffrey of the Mater Hospital. This part of the conference is dedicated to kidney cancer, urothelial carcinoma, surgical management of urothelial and bladder cancer, a presentation on germ cell tumours, and a talk on systemic therapy for prostate cancer.
Attendees will then be able to view specialty updates, including presentations on sarcoma, radiation therapy, a melanoma update, and a specialty update on lung cancer.
Prof McCaffrey, who is a Consultant Medical Oncologist, spoke with the Medical Independent (MI) about the upcoming conference. Prof McCaffrey will co-chair the event with Prof David Gallagher, Consultant Medical Oncologist and Consultant Genetic Oncologist at St James’s Hospital in Dublin. Prof McCaffrey commented: “I am excited that we have very comprehensive nursing specialty participants and the inclusion of patients and advocates in our audience and on the panel for the first time.”
“Prof Patrick Morris is chairing a session which includes a speaker on OECI accreditation, an achievement to which he led Beaumont Hospital recently, and which he is helping other centres to navigate,” Prof McCaffrey told MI.
“Prof Josephine Hegarty from UCC [University College Cork] will be addressing research from a nursing perspective. Dr Megan Greally is chairing a multidisciplinary meeting in advanced cancer care at the Mater, with the assistance of the Lead in Surgical Oncology, Ms Ailin Rogers,” he continued.
“Phase one studies in cancer is the subject of a three-speaker session, in which Prof Austin Duffy will discuss what steps he hopes to take to open up access to new therapies for Irish patients. Prof Seamus O’Reilly will update on future plans for Cancer Trials Ireland.
“Dr Jane Sui, Dr Hazel O’Sullivan, and Dr Fergus Keane are speaking as young investigators abroad, among our largest number of such speakers in the meeting’s history. Sandra Flynn is chairing a session on the multidisciplinary approach to quality patient care.
“In addition, we have update sessions in most of the cancers, as well as remarks from Dr Risteárd Ó Laoide, National Cancer Control Programme, and Dr Tony Holohan, recently-retired Chief Medical Officer,” Prof McCaffrey concluded.
Gathering Around Cancer, Croke Park Conference Centre, Dublin, 17-18 November 2022
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