Taking the fight to cancer

This year’s Gathering Around Cancer conference spotlights the latest in cancer research, treatment, and more

The Gathering Around Cancer 2024 conference will bring together some of the leading national and international specialists in a range of areas, from improving diagnosis, to treatment, and palliative care. Over two days on 21 and 22 November, delegates in the Croke Park Conference Centre in Dublin will be able to choose from a variety of topical talks to attend, as well as the prestigious Young Investigators Award.

This will be the 12th Gathering Around Cancer conference and each year the event goes from strength to strength. This year’s event continues the multidisciplinary team (MDT) theme that has become characteristic of the conference, bringing together clinical experts along with specialists in basic science, nursing, healthcare management, and industry.

As always, research collaborations will be encouraged and fostered, with the overall aim to sharpen clinical practice and improve patient outcomes. The organising committee is comprised of distinguished Irish clinicians, including Prof John McCaffrey, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin; Prof David Gallagher, Consultant Medical Oncologist and Consultant Medical Geneticist, St James’s Hospital, Dublin; Dr Megan Greally, Consultant Medical Oncologist, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin; and Dr Roisin O’Cearbhaill, Consultant Medical Oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre (MSKCC), New York.

Lung nodules

Cancer experts from US centres will feature on the first morning of the conference. They include Dr Charles Powell, Mount Sinai National Jewish Respiratory Institute, New York, who will speak on the topic of ‘Pulmonary interstitial lung disease from antibody-drug conjugate’. The primary focus of Dr Powell’s clinical and research activities are lung nodules and cancer and he has accrued a wealth of experience in understanding the biology and genomics of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma. This is in light of the fact that recent advances have modified the diagnosis and approach to these tumours.

Also featured in the morning programme are Dr Adam Schoenfeld, MSKCC, who will deliver a talk titled ‘Cell therapy for lung cancer’, and Dr Alex Shoushtari, also of MSKCC, who will speak on the topic of tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy for melanoma.

Also in this session on ‘Novel therapies’, attendees will hear from Dr Robert Henderson, St James’s Hospital, Dublin, who will deliver a talk on ‘Car T-cell treatment in Ireland’, and Dr Grainne O’Kane, also of St James’s Hospital, who will speak on ‘Targeting KRAS in cancer’.

Young investigators

A packed morning programme also features part one of the much-anticipated Young Investigators session. This year’s topics include ‘Circulating tumour DNA to improve diagnosis and treatment selection for patients with advanced NSCLC [non-small-cell lung cancer]’ by Dr David O’Reilly, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, and ‘Enhancing the neoadjuvant treatment of rectal cancer by targeting the inhibitor of apoptosis proteins’, delivered by Dr Timothy O’Brien, Belfast City Hospital. The international flavour is continued with a presentation by Dr Sarah Lochrin, MSKCC, who will deliver a ‘Melanoma update’. Dr David McMahon, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, UK, will present on ‘Oncogene-addicted lung cancer’. Also, Dr Harry Harvey, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Canada, will speak about ‘Hepatocellular carcinoma and the tumour immune micro-environment’.

Special interests

Areas of specialisation are also catered for in the programme and the afternoon’s Session 3 is focused on topics of special interest. Attendees will hear from Dr Michael McCarthy, University Hospital Galway, on ‘Medical oncology service updates’, and Dr Helen Greally, National Cancer Control Programme, who will speak about ‘Reflections on delivering a national psycho-oncology service for Ireland’.

Also featured in this session will be Dr Rajiv Agarwal, Vanderbilt, University Medical Centre in Nashville, US, who will address the meeting on the fascinating topic of ‘Combining a career in palliative care and oncology’. Prof Patrick Redmond, RCSI, Dublin, will speak about ‘PriCAN – primary care research in cancer’, while the session will be completed with a talk by Dr Alan Hussey, University Hospital Galway, who will address the attendees on a ‘Patient story’. 

Nursing

Nursing specialists have become increasingly important in recent years, and the Gathering Around Cancer conference acknowledges their pivotal role in Session 4, which is dedicated to ‘Specialty Nursing’. Ms Mairead Traynor, Beaumont Hospital, will speak on the vital role of ‘Occupational therapy in MDT management of patients with glioblastoma multiforme’. This will be followed by Ms Patrice Kearney, Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin, who will provide insights on ‘Survivorship in GU malignancies’. Ms Elizabeth Summersby of the HSE will round off this session with her talk titled ‘Innovation in the advanced nurse practitioner role’.

A session will also be devoted to women’s health. Dr Roisin O’Cearbhaill, MSKCC, will present on gynaecological cancer, while Dr Sonya Chew, University Hospital Galway, will deliver updates on Her2-positive breast cancer. The remaining two presentations in Session 5 will be given by Dr Helen Murphy and Dr Catherine Kelly, both of the Mater Hospital in Dublin. Dr Murphy will speak on menopause management, while Dr Kelly will present a talk titled ‘Updates in hormone receptor positive breast cancer’.

Young Investigators Part 2 follows in Session 6, and the international theme is continued with speakers from the US and Canada. Dr Ronan McLaughlin of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, will share updates on gastrointestinal cancer and Dr Colm MacEoghagain of St James’s Hospital in Dublin will update the attendees on geriatric oncology. This will be followed by the latest research on prostate cancer from Dr Niamh Keegan of MSKCC and Dr Abdul Farooq, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, who will give a presentation titled ‘Pancreatic cancer – How to move the needle forward’. The session is closed by Dr Zac Coyne, also of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, whose talk is titled ‘ctDNA in lung cancer’.

Neoadjuvant care

Neoadjuvant therapy is fast becoming the standard of care in many centres, and Session 7 is dedicated to this expanding field of patient care. This section of the conference will be opened by Dr Ruth O’Regan, University of Rochester Medical Centre, New York, who will address the meeting with updates on breast cancer, followed by Dr Fergus Keane, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, who will speak on pancreatic cancer. Dr Darren Cowzer, Mater Hospital, Dublin, will address the attendees on rectal cancer, followed by Prof Jarushka Naidoo, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, on the topic ‘Recent advances in immunotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer’. This session is concluded by Dr Ciara O’Hanlon Browne of St James’s Hospital, who will deliver clinical updates on melanoma.

Topical issues

Session 8 of the conference is dedicated to topical issues in other areas including sexual health, weight loss and cancer, and biopsy updates. This part of the conference will be opened by Prof Donal O’Shea, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, who will present on ‘Weight loss drugs and cancer’, followed by another clinical perspective on ‘Liquid biopsy in cancer predisposition’ from Dr Zack Foda, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, US. The attendees will also hear from Dr Zsofia Stadler, MSKCC, and Dr Emily Harrold of St James’s Hospital, while Dr Tim Asmis of the Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, Canada, will address palliative care issues in his talk ‘Dying with dignity: The Canadian experience’.

The final session of the meeting is on the subject of ‘Early Onset Cancer’.

To register for this year’s event, visit www.gatheringaroundcancer.com/registration/.