European parliament adopts its position on the Critical Medicines Act, strengthening security of cancer care in Europe

 The European Parliament recently adopted first-reading of the Critical Medicines Act, expanding "collaborative procurement and solidarity mechanisms, explicitly acknowledging their relevance to specialized treatments, including in oncology."  Now entering interinstitutional negotiations, the Critical Medicines Act ensures that continuity of care for cancer patients will remain a key focus area for European Union health policy. 

To read more about the Critical Medicines Act, click here. 

ESMO launches first congress on artificial intelligence and digital oncology: a milestone in shaping the future of cancer care

The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) recently launched the inaugural Congress on Artificial Intelligence and Digital Oncology, taking place in Berlin this week, November 12-14, 2025.  With over 1100 participants scheduled to attend, the conference program will include discussions of: 

• Multimodal AI for clinical decision support, showcasing applications in molecular tumour boards and real-world data integration.
• AI-based biomarkers for precision oncology, featuring discussions on validation frameworks and predictive modelling, including the announcement of the imminent publication of the ESMO Basic Requirements for AI-based Biomarkers in Oncology (EBAI) framework
• Generative AI and large language models, with keynote lectures featuring speakers from Google DeepMind and Harvard Medical School.
• Digital health in practice, exploring wearable technologies, remote monitoring, decentralised trials.
• Ethics, regulation, and patient perspectives, addressing trust, explainability and the societal implications of AI in oncology.

To learn more about this conference, click here. 

The potential of AI to improve cancer care is only going to grow

 The annual European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) annual conference, held in Madrid Spain from October 20-24, 2023 will contain dedicated sessions focused on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in several aspects of cancer care, including: 

• use of AI technologies to improve early cancer detection and diagnosis 
• integration of AI into clinical workflows 
• use of AI to report real-world oncological data with accuracy and transparency 
• implementation of AI and digital oncology in routine practice 

To learn more about the AI sessions planned for the upcoming ESMO Conference, click here. 

New studies presented at 2023 ASCO annual meeting ties loneliness and major financial event to cancer diagnoses and higher mortality risk

 New studies unveiled at the 2023 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), held in Chicago from June 2-6, 2023, indicate loneliness and experiencing a major financial event as direct correlations to a cancer diagnosis and higher mortality risk.  

Led by Jingxuan Zhao, senior associate scientist of health services research at the American Cancer Society, cancer survivors 50 years and older reported "elevated loneliness scores [and] had higher hazard ratios, indicating higher mortality risks."  These findings occurred even after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, leading to strong recommendations to implement programs to screen for loneliness among cancer survivors and provide social support. 

An additional study unveiled at the ASCO annual meeting indicates that 1/3 of cancer patients experienced a major adverse financial event (AFE), such as bankruptcy, lien, or eviction, prior to being diagnosed with cancer, and were subsequently diagnosed at a later cancer stage.  Of the 101,649 patients studied, 32.6% had a major AFE before being diagnosed, most commonly among non-Hispanic Black, unmarried, and low-income patients.  However, "even 27% of patients in the highest income group had an AFE prior to diagnosis."  

To learn more about these studies, click here and here. 

Abstracts and titles are now available for Palliative Care In Oncology Symposium

A team approach to palliative care can, and should, include everyone in an oncology setting: physicians, palliative care specialists, nurses, hospice professionals, social workers, and others. The 2016 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium will provide information that is vital to the entire cancer care continuum, from laboratory research regarding biologic mechanisms of symptoms to caring for patients’ psychosocial and spiritual needs during cancer treatment and at end of life.

Abstract titles are released now - view more info about the Symposium here.

MASCC/ISOO Annual Meeting, June 25-27, 2015

Being held in Copenhagen, Denmark, the MASCC/ISOO 2015 Annual Meeting will spotlight excellent science and cutting edge research aimed at enhancing the lives of people coping with cancer. In a few short years, MASCC/ISOO annual meetings have developed a reputation for providing the most current data and innovative techniques with regards to how best minimize therapy-induced side effects and complications associated with cancer. Read more here.

MASCC Comes to Australia: announcing Adelaide as host city to the MASCC Symposium, 2016

The MASCC/ISOO (Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer) Annual Meeting on Supportive Care in Cancer is designed to educate and inform an international audience of healthcare professionals on ways to minimize symptoms and complications associated with cancer as well as therapy-induced side effects. This meeting is intended for physicians, nurses, dentists, oral surgeons, dental hygienists, pharmacists, social workers, nutritionists, and other healthcare providers involved in the care of cancer patients. Read Professor Ian Olver (CEO, Cancer Council Australia) and Professor Dorothy Keefe (Service Director, South Australia Cancer Service) comments on holding the 2016 MASCC Symposium in Adelaide here.

IMAGINE Project focuses on patient-first health-care culture

The Alberta health-care system includes extraordinary talent and forward-thinking initiatives. But it is also faced with challenges to patient safety, frequent patient dissatisfaction, and a culture that can struggle with always putting the patient first. That is the picture of the health-care system that emerged during a nearly five-hour forum attended by almost 400 people, streamed live and hosted by the O’Brien Institute for Public Health at the Cumming School of Medicine. The forum marked the launch of the IMAGINE Project, a grassroots, citizen-led initiative that aims to refocus the health-care system on the patient. Read more here.

Dr. Dorothy Keefe on symptom science and supportive care

Dorothy Keefe, MD, MBBS, FRACP, FRCP, spoke at the opening session and also delivered a Keynote Address, at the Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium. The symposium, cosponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM), the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), and MASCC, was held in Boston, Massachusetts, October 24-25, 2014. Her presentations are now available online, as well as other video highlights from the Symposium.

New studies in multiple myeloma presented at ASH

The 56th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) featured a number of important studies in multiple myeloma, including trials of carfilzomib, pomalidomide,ixazomib, and two new antibodies.

Dimopoulos MA, Palumbo A, Weisel K, et al. Safety and efficacy in the Stratus (MM-010) trial, a single-arm phase 3b study evaluating pomalidomide + low-dose dexamethasone in patients with refractory or relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. Program and abstracts of the 56th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition, December 6-9, 2014; San Francisco, California. Abstract 80.


Kumar S, Berdeja JG, Niesvizky R, et al. Long-term ixazomib maintenance is tolerable and improves depth of response following ixazomib-lenalidomide-dexamethasone induction in patients (Pts) with previously untreated multiple myeloma (MM): phase 2 study results. Program and abstracts of the 56th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition, December 6-9, 2014; San Francisco, California. Abstract 82.


Martin III TG, Baz R, Benson Jr. DM, et al. A phase Ib dose escalation trial of SAR650984 (anti-CD-38 mAb) in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Program and abstracts of the 56th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition, December 6-9, 2014; San Francisco, California. Abstract 83.


Plesner T, Arkenau HT, Lokhorst HM, et al. Safety and efficacy of daratumumab with lenalidomide and dexamethasone in relapsed or relapsed, refractory multiple myeloma. Program and abstracts of the 56th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition, December 6-9, 2014; San Francisco, California. Abstract 84.

More 56th ASH Annual Meeting Abstracts are here.

Narrow subset of cells is responsible for metastasis in multiple myeloma, study finds

Although it is among the most highly metastatic of all cancers, multiple myeloma is driven to spread by only a subset of the myeloma cells within a patient’s body, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have found in a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology. The study suggests that attacking those subsets with targeted drugs may degrade the disease’s ability to spread throughout the bone marrow of affected patients. Read more here.

‘Rapidly moving’ evidence showing benefits of physical activity in cancer prevention & survivorship

Evidence is becoming more and more persuasive that physical activity not only can lower the risk of certain cancers, but also provide important benefits to cancer survivors. That was the word from speakers at the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) Annual Conference. “This field has moved very rapidly in the last 10 to 15 years, and programs are being developed for cancer patients across the continuum,” said Christine Friedenreich, PhD, Scientific Leader for the Department of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Research of CancerControl Alberta and the Head of the Division of Preventive Oncology at the University of Calgary, who chaired a session on physical activity and cancer survivorship. “We're certainly not there yet, but we're getting there.” Read more here.

Mentored Training for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Cancer

An exciting learning collaborative of dissemination and implementation (D&I) researchers: Funded by a five year grant from the National Cancer Institute, this unique education program is positioned to build capacity in D&I research in cancer prevention and control. The deadline to submit applications is January 16, 2015. Applicants will be notified of acceptance by March 2, 2015. The 2015 MT-DIRC cohort will have on-site training June 1-5, 2015, and again June 6-10, 2016, at Washington University in St. Louis. Click here for more information: http://prcstl.wustl.edu/training/Pages/MTDIRC.aspx

BIT's 8th Annual World Cancer Congress-2015

BIT’s 8th Annual World Cancer Congress - 2015 will be held on 27-29, May, 2015 in Chongqing, China. The congress consists of twelve cooperative, specialized programs tailored to highlight the latest and most exciting discoveries in every area of cancer research and it will provide a unique opportunity for researchers from all over the world to meet, network, and forge new scientific interactions. Read more here.

Featured interview videos and articles from MASCC 2014 meeting

The 2014 meeting of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) took place June 26-28, 2014, in Miami. Featured videos and conference articles, primarily highlighting the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and other side effects, have been made available on the MASCC website. Read more here.

MASCC/ISOO symposium webcasts available online

Webcasts from the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer International Symposium on Supportive Care in Cancer held in Miami, Florida, June 26-28, 2014 are now available online. View the webcasts here.

Phase III trial shows improved survival with TAS-102 in metastatic colorectal cancer refractory to standard therapies

The new combination agent TAS-102 is able to improve overall survival compared to placebo in patients whose metastatic colorectal cancer is refractory to standard therapies, researchers said at the ESMO 16th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona. TAS-102 is a novel nucleoside anti-tumour agent consisting of trifluridine (FTD) and tipiracil hydrochloride (TPI). FTD is the active component of TAS-102 and is directly incorporated into cancer DNA, leading to DNA dysfunction. However, when FTD is taken orally it is largely degraded to an inactive form. TPI prevents the degradation of FTD. Read more here.

Phase III trial shows equivalent survival for cetuximab or bevacizumab with combination chemotherapy in metastatic colorectal cancer

For patients with KRAS wild-type untreated colorectal cancer, adding cetuximab or bevacizumab to combination chemotherapy offers equivalent survival, researchers said at the ESMO 16th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona. The CALGB/SWOG 80405 trial studied patients whose tumours were KRAS wild-type at codons 12 and 13. Patients received mFOLFOX6 or FOLFIRI at the discretion of their doctor and were randomised to cetuximab (578 patients) or bevacizumab (559 patients). Read more here.

International phase III trial shows survival benefit of MM-398 added to standard treatment in post-gemcitabine metastatic pancreatic cancer

Adding the novel MM-398 to standard treatment for metastatic pancreatic cancer patients who have already received gemcitabine improves survival, researchers said at the ESMO 16th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona. “Patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer or pancreatic cancer in general have very limited options,” said study author Andrea Wang-Gillam, assistant professor in the Division of Oncology at Washington University in St. Louis, USA. “These patients just simply don’t do well. This was a positive trial and will provide a new treatment option for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.” Read more here.

Docetaxel/ramucirumab in the second-line treatment of stage IV NSCLC

A randomised, double-blind, phase III REVEL study demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall response rate, progression-free survival, and overall survival for ramucirumab plus docetaxel vs. docetaxel in patients with stage IV non-small-cell lung cancer as a second-line treatment after platinum-based therapy. Benefits were similar in patients with non-squamous and squamous tumours and no unexpected adverse events were identified, according to a presentation by Dr Maurice Perol of the Léon-Bérard Cancer Centre, Lyon, France at American Society of Clinical Oncology 2014 Annual Meeting. Read more here.