ONCOLOGY® Looks to Conference Agendas for Current Trends

As we approach the last few weeks of 2021, the oncology community is abuzz with news about major medical conferences and research breakthroughs presented therein. What’s also evident when looking at conference agendas is just how much has changed in the treatment of cancer, with presentations dominated by topics related to extending health care to underserved populations and managing care with consideration to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scheduled for presentation at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s 36th Annual Meeting, taking place from November 10 through 14, are sessions covering topics related to COVID-19’s impact on immunology and immunobiology and what the pandemic means to the conduct of clinical trials. Leaders in the field, such as Jeffrey Weber, MD, PhD, of NYU Langone Medical Center, will provide their expertise in this area.

At the upcoming American Society for Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, awards will include honoring Deepika Darbari, MD, of Children’s National Hospital and the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, for her lifetime of work to both advance minority representation professionally and strive for better care for underrepresented patient populations.

At the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium taking place in December, a special session titled “Trust in Science and Healthcare” will explore how investigators can extend the reach of patient care the underserved populations with key thought leaders, such as Eric P. Winer, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, taking the helm for certain parts of the discussion.

Witnessing the resiliency of the oncology community in the face of challenges to both patients and their providers builds momentum in the community and is sure to lead to better outcomes going forward. As always, oncology providers across multidisciplinary specialties can stay up-to-date on the latest in this and other oncology news at CancerNetwork.com, home of the journal ONCOLOGY®.