22nd Annual Conference is March 23–25, 2017, in Orlando, FL
[FORT WASHINGTON, PA – March 6, 2017] — “Like my own patients, I had to face my mortality and try to understand what made my life worth living—and I needed [my doctor’s] help to do so,” wrote the late neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi, MD, in his New York Times bestselling memoir, When Breath Becomes Air. Kalanithi died in March 2015 at age 37 following a diagnosis of Stage IV lung cancer.
Lucy Kalanithi, MD |
Heather Wakelee, MD |
In the first time addressing a public forum together, Kalanithi’s widow, Lucy Kalanithi, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Stanford School of Medicine; and his oncologist, Heather Wakelee, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford Cancer Institute, will participate in a moderated discussion Friday, March 24 at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) 22nd Annual Conference: Improving the Quality, Effectiveness, and Efficiency of Cancer Care™.
The NCCN Conference will take place March 23–25, 2017, at Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida. More than 1,600 physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other oncology stakeholders and industry leaders will convene to discuss the most pressing issues in oncology, including issues of survivorship, fertility, nicotine addiction, and other psychosocial issues that impact quality of life. Sessions will also address new immunotherapy approaches for several cancers, and will reference new and updated NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®).
To view the full conference agenda or to register, visit NCCN.org/AC2017.
Follow the conference on Twitter #NCCNac17. For a conference media kit, visit NCCN.org/AC2017media.
Drs. Kalanithi and Wakelee will address how contending with a life-threatening illness can increase the complexity of relationships among patients, families, and health care providers, and strategies oncologists can use to help both patients and caregivers manage the process in a patient-centered way.
“In addition to providing the latest updates in cancer treatment, we wanted to focus conference sessions on the emotional and supportive care issues that impact oncology care,” said Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. “We must educate oncologists in managing the psychosocial challenges of cancer, whose effects often impact the lives of patients and their families long after treatment has ended,” Carlson added. “The practice of oncology must be concerned not only with extending life, but also with ensuring that patients can live their lives as meaningfully as possible, based on their values. We must all learn how to have that conversation.”
Key to the NCCN Annual Conference agenda are updates from NCCN Member Institution experts about front-line issues affecting the treatment and support of patients with cancer. The following sessions are featured in this year’s agenda:
NCCN Guidelines® Updates
NCCN Guidelines panels develop the world’s most widely used oncology treatment guidelines, which are continuously updated. The conference will provide sessions on NCCN Guidelines that have been updated in the past year and address various cancer types, including:
The conference will also have on hand new NCCN Guidelines for Patients®, which provide cancer information and treatment options in lay-friendly language, offering patients a framework for discussion with their care team. Since last year’s conference, NCCN published new NCCN Guidelines for Patients on Brain Cancer (Gliomas), Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma, Follicular Lymphoma, Mantle Cell Lymphoma, Mycosis Fungoides, Myelodysplastic Syndromes, Nausea and Vomiting, Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma, Stomach Cancer, and Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia.
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