The First Eye Cancer Working Day
On June 15th, in the first meeting of its kind, eye cancer specialists from every continent convened to initiate worldwide collaboration within their specialty. Held at the Curie Institute in Paris, The First Eye Cancer Working Day exceeded organizers’ expectations, requiring an 11th-hour change of venue to accommodate all 158 participants.
Divided into several sections, the Working Day addressed critical issues related to eye cancer research and treatment. Sections began with an overview presentation from moderators, followed by an interactive group session to brainstorm ideas.
“The Working Day demonstrated that eye cancer specialists want to work to improve our specialty, help each other and unserved patients around the world,” said Paul T. Finger, MD, an eye cancer specialist from New York City and organizer of the Working Day.
The Working Day encouraged international, multi-center cooperation by providing a platform for doctors to discuss their existing progress. This was especially true on the subject of international patient registries. The first collaborative data on choroidal melanoma and ocular adnexal lymphoma was presented followed by a call to participate and share in ongoing and new registries.
Another theme of the Working Day was reaching out to the developing world. A commitment was made to address the 70% worldwide mortality for children with the eye cancer retinoblastoma. The Eye Cancer Foundation and Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto joined together to provide funding for cost-effective training of 33 retinoblastoma eye cancer specialists for unserved countries.
The Working Day encouraged eye cancer specialists to join together by signing up for committees on various topics of interest throughout the day. The most represented committee included 43 specialists who volunteered to develop a new system to grade eye-related radiation side effects.
The next Eye Cancer Working Meeting is scheduled to be held at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Working Day showed that we can do so much more together than any of us can do alone.
The event was endorsed and hosted by The Eye Cancer Foundation and the Curie Institute. It was also endorsed by The International Society of Ophthalmic Oncology (ISOO), The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), The Commission on Cancer (COC), The American Brachytherapy Society (ABS), The European Ophthalmic Oncology Group (EOOG), The American College of Surgeons (ACS), and The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO).
For photos click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/134418958@N08/shares/3D066c
Divided into several sections, the Working Day addressed critical issues related to eye cancer research and treatment. Sections began with an overview presentation from moderators, followed by an interactive group session to brainstorm ideas.
“The Working Day demonstrated that eye cancer specialists want to work to improve our specialty, help each other and unserved patients around the world,” said Paul T. Finger, MD, an eye cancer specialist from New York City and organizer of the Working Day.
The Working Day encouraged international, multi-center cooperation by providing a platform for doctors to discuss their existing progress. This was especially true on the subject of international patient registries. The first collaborative data on choroidal melanoma and ocular adnexal lymphoma was presented followed by a call to participate and share in ongoing and new registries.
Another theme of the Working Day was reaching out to the developing world. A commitment was made to address the 70% worldwide mortality for children with the eye cancer retinoblastoma. The Eye Cancer Foundation and Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto joined together to provide funding for cost-effective training of 33 retinoblastoma eye cancer specialists for unserved countries.
The Working Day encouraged eye cancer specialists to join together by signing up for committees on various topics of interest throughout the day. The most represented committee included 43 specialists who volunteered to develop a new system to grade eye-related radiation side effects.
The next Eye Cancer Working Meeting is scheduled to be held at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Working Day showed that we can do so much more together than any of us can do alone.
The event was endorsed and hosted by The Eye Cancer Foundation and the Curie Institute. It was also endorsed by The International Society of Ophthalmic Oncology (ISOO), The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), The Commission on Cancer (COC), The American Brachytherapy Society (ABS), The European Ophthalmic Oncology Group (EOOG), The American College of Surgeons (ACS), and The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO).
For photos click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/134418958@N08/shares/3D066c
Multicenter, International Studies, ACJJ Valigation & Registries
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Moderators: E. Rand Simpson, Brenda Gallie, Sarah Coupland, Svetlana Saakyan, Steffan Heegaard, Bertil Damato, Bita Esmaeli, Anna Pavlick The ongoing, retrospective multicenter, international data-sharing registry project has been completed for uveal melanoma. Currently recruiting studies include conjunctival melanoma, intraocular lymphoma, and retinoblastoma. There is still much needed work on other eye cancers. This session will be used to coordinate, recruit, and expand these initiatives. |
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Radiation Side Effect Staging Project
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Moderators: Wolfgang Sauerwein, Lawrence Tena, Remi Dendale, Henrike Westekemper, Carlo Mosci, Clare Stannard, Norbert Bornfeld
The 2014 American Brachytherapy Society (ABS) consensus guidelines strongly suggested establishment of staging for ophthalmic radiation side effects. These guidelines can be used to compare outcomes after radiation treatment for eye cancers. This committee is tasked to create a universal staging system for ophthalmic radiation side effects. |
Doctor Reported Outcomes (DROs)
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Moderators: Tero Kivelä, Stefan Seregard, Santosh Honavar, Carol Shields
The ocular oncology community and their patients would benefit from periodic outcome reporting. There will be privacy issues; however, multi-center cooperation for the benefit of our patients can be built stage-by-stage. Established guidelines for outcome reporting would help us better compare and thus improve our results. |
Retinoblastoma "Eye Cancer" Fellowships for Undeserved Countries
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Moderators: Laurence Desjardins, Hans Grossniklaus, Peter Gabel, Helen Dimaras, Santosh Honavar
Why do 70% of children with retinoblastoma die from their cancer around the world? This is unacceptable in that less than 5% die of retinoblastoma in North America and Europe. The main difference is early detection and prompt treatment. There are many countries with no identifiable eye cancer specialist. Our community needs to develop an ongoing program to eliminate this discrepancy within 10 years. There will be discussion of funding mechanisms and coordination with existing programs. |
Basic Surgical Techniques
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Moderators: Santosh Honavar, Carol Shields, Bertil Damato, Bita Esmaeli, Hans Grossniklaus, Fairooz P Manjandavida
The United States Commission on Cancer (COC) recommends the development and publication of basic standard surgical techniques for the community. The work of this group will help eye cancer patients around the world. This group should define which operations need be included, assign writing groups, determine authorship and open access venues. |
Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs)
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Moderators: Bertil Damato, Tara McCannel, Colin McCannel, Laura Hope-Stone, Andrea Villaroman
Physicians typically measure the success of their treatments in terms of objective outcomes. However, there is a movement towards including the patient experience into the metrics driving health care decisions. This group has experience with PROs and will discuss the utility and implementation of "Patient Reported Outcomes." |
Summary and General Session for Future Planning
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To visit the Eye Cancer Working Day summary page, click here.
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