Monday, 7 April 2014

First Multidisciplinary Lung Cancer Management Course



First Multidisciplinary Lung Cancer Management Course

Chandigarh,03.04.13:The First Multidisciplinary Lung Cancer Management Course is being organized by the department of Pulmonary Medicine at PGIMER, Chandigarh on April 05-06, 2014. This is a unique educational activity and joint effort by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Indian Society for Study of Lung Cancer (ISSLC).
 Lung cancer is an important cause of cancer related morbidity and mortality both globally and within India. According to the recent GLOBOCAN 2012 data, lung cancer is the most common cancer in men with global incidence of 1.2 million (12 lakh) new cases per year and accounting for 16.7% of all new cancers. Worldwide, it is also the most common cause of death from cancer which in absolute terms is 1.59 million (15.9 lakh) deaths annually and in relative terms 19.4% of all cancer related deaths. Compared to cancers at other sites, lung cancer has a very high mortality rate with 87% of all patients diagnosed with this disease ultimately dying due to the disease itself. Even in India, the burden of lung cancer is enormous since here  also it is the most common type of cancer in men (11.3% of all new cancers) and it is also the most common cause of death from cancer (13.7% of all cancer related deaths). Importantly, data from population based cancer registries in India indicate that the burden of disease is still rising in this country in contrast to the developed countries wherein it has either reached a plateau or is declining. Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers among males in India and accounts for approximately one of every 10 cancers overall and one fourth of all tobacco related cancers in males.
          ASCO is one of the largest and most renowned professional oncology societies in the world with membership exceeding 30,000. This course will witness participation of three overseas international faculty selected by ASCO:
1)   Dr Ritsuko Komaki – a radiation oncologist. She is currently a distinguished professor in lung cancer research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA
2)   Dr. Ana Oton – a medical oncologist. She is currently working asAssociate Professor of Medicine, Thoracic Malignancies Program, University of Colorado Cancer Center, Denver, Colorado, USA
3)   Dr. Florian Strasser – a palliative care. He is currently Associate Professor and Head, Oncological Palliative Medicine, Division of Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine & Palliative Care Centre, Cantonal Hospital, St. Gallen, Switzerland
 Mr Doug Pyle, Senior Director, International Affairs Division of ASCO is also participating as faculty in this course and will be involved in promoting the concept of multidisciplinary cancer care as well as availability of resources in ASCO that can be potentially utilized in India to enhance the standard of cancer care.
The ISSLC till date remains the only non-profit professional body in India that is dedicated to enhancing awareness as well as promoting research and education in the field of lung cancer. Dr D Behera, Senior Professor in the department of Pulmonary Medicine at PGIMER, Chandigarh is the founder and current president of ISSLC. Dr Navneet Singh, Assistant Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at PGIMER, Chandigarh is the current Secretary of ISSLC and the Course Coordinator.
 The national course faculty has been primarily drawn from PGIMER, Chandigarh and the Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai. These are two premier government of India funded health care institutes located in the northern and western regions of India respectively. Both these institutes are renowned for the available knowledge and expertise in the field of lung cancer and cater to large sections of the Indian population.
The department of Pulmonary Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh which is a World Health Organization collaborating centre for research and capacity building in chronic respiratory diseases, runs a special clinic for lung cancer patients and is a reputed referral centre for the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. A lot of research in the field of lung cancer has been conducted in this department in the past few decades and been published in literature. Currently, also several intra- and extra-mural research projects in the area of lung cancer are ongoing. Prof Behera and Dr Navneet Singh are in charge of the Lung Cancer Clinic at PGIMER and are responsible for the management of approximately 300 new patients per year who are diagnosed with this disease. Patients are referred from several neighboring states like Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Rajasthan. The department works in close collaboration with other departments that are involved in multidisciplinary management of lung cancer namely Radiodiagnosis, Nuclear Medicine, Histopathology, Cytology, Radiotherapy and Cardio-thoracic-vascular Surgery.
The TMC, Mumbai is a specialized oncology institute that is well known both within India and abroad for its expertise in diagnosis and treatment of variety of cancers and has two separate wings : the Tata Memorial Hospital which provides the clinical services and is involved in clinical research and the ACTREC which provides the necessary manpower and infrastructure for conduct of basic and advanced cancer research. Dr. CS Pramesh, Professor of Surgical Oncology and Chief of Thoracic Surgery, at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai is one of the two coordinators for this course, the other being Dr Navneet Singh.
This course is being attended by approximately 150 delegates from all over India. These include postgraduate residents who are undergoing training in the fields of pulmonary medicine, medical oncology, radiation oncology and surgical oncology as well as practicing physicians who wish to get an update about the current developments in the field of lung cancer especially those related to personalized treatment and multimodality management strategies. Attending this course is expected to help delegates possess the necessary skills for practicing multidisciplinary management of lung cancer.
Source:http://www.indianewscalling.com/news/13911-first-multidisciplinary-lung-cancer-management-course.aspx
5 April-                                                                 


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