Tom Feys MBA, MSc

Highlights from the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium

Summary

From the 8^th till the 12^th of December, San Antonio, TX was again transformed into the world’s capital in the fight against breast cancer. The 2015 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) was a joint presentation of the Cancer Therapy & Research Centre at the University of Texas Health Science Centre in San Antonio, the American Association for Cancer Research, and the Baylor College of Medicine. This years’ meeting drew more than 6,000 participants from all over the globe and again proved to be the number one breast cancer meeting in the world. This report will highlight seven key studies presented during the meeting.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2016;10(1):41–43)

Breast cancer highlights

The amount of new, clinically relevant information for breast cancer oncologists was quite limited at this meeting, but many interesting reviews and debates could be followed. Below you can read a summary of the more remarkable abstracts in the breast cancer field.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2015;9:251–55)

Updates on melanoma

The treatment of metastatic melanoma patients is a rapidly evolving field with now six new drugs approved by the European Medicine Agency, EMA (vemurafenib, dabrafenib, cobimetinib, ipilimumab, nivolumab and pembrolizumab). The therapeutic options for advanced melanoma can be divided into two groups: treatments impacting on the immune system and targeted agents blocking essential biochemical pathways or mutant proteins that are required for melanoma cell growth and survival. Today, physicians are wondering what is the best strategy: using first-line targeted medications or start with immunotherapeutic agents. At the 2015 European Cancer Conference (ECC), updated and new results were presented in order to answer this question.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2015;9:234–39)

Highlights from the 17th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer

From July 1^st till July 4^th, Barcelona was host to the 17^th world congress on gastrointestinal cancer. The meeting again proved to be the premier global event in the field, encompassing malignancies affecting every component of the gastrointestinal tract and aspects related to the care of patients with gastrointestinal cancer, including screening, diagnosis and the latest management options for common and uncommon tumours. This report will touch upon some of the key abstracts presented at the congress. A complete overview of all studies presented during the meeting can be found at www.worldgicancer.com.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2015;9(5):199–201)

Highlights in breast cancer

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2015;9:164–7)

BSMO Breast cancer task force meeting

New oncology reimbursements in Belgium

An overview of Belgian reimbursement news. (BELG J MED ONCOL 2015;9(1):48–49)