Cancer experts to discuss novel treatment strategies at ESMO Asia 2016 Congress

The ESMO Asia 2016 Congress announces its press programme today. The meeting brings together cancer experts in Singapore, from 16 to 19 December 2016.

Press releases will include the following:

• How depression induces poor prognosis in advanced Small Cell Lung Cancer patients and the underlying mechanism
• Predictors of financial catastrophe following cancer: disease is an important driver of catastrophic expenditures due to out of pocket health costs. Researchers examine the risk and predictors of financial catastrophe following cancer in an upper middle-income country with universal health coverage
• What factors influence chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment ("chemobrain") in patients?
• The  adverse impact of pain on patients' quality of life and daily functioning. Although guidelines on pain management exist, many cancer patients still report unrelieved pain. Researchers suggest that the current prescription practice in South East Asia may be inadequate
• Health related quality of life and psychological distress among cancer patients and survivors
• Examination of the trade-offs between out-of-pocket cost and survival when expensive anticancer drugs are offered to patients with poor prognosis. Should oncologists recommend expensive anticancer drugs to their patients, exposing them to financial toxicity? A better understanding of patient preferences for expensive anticancer drugs and the factors influencing oncologists' recommendations is needed: how much is an extra month of life worth?
• Domestic cooking fuel as a risk factor for lung cancer in women
• The identification of factors affecting non-adherence (including side effects and socio economic status) to adjuvant endocrine treatment among early stage breast cancer patients. Non-adherance has been associated with worse prognosis.
• Despite advances in cancer treatment, over 25% of patients with locally advanced breast cancer relapse during the first five years after treatment. Researchers constructed a prediction tool for risk of relapse in patients, based on five factors
• High mammographic breast density as a predictor of recurrence in invasive breast cancer
• Diagnostic delay in oncology : is there a need for increasing cancer awareness among primary care physicians of developing countries?
• A subgroup analysis from the MONALEESA-2 study on the use of first-line ribociclib + letrozole in post menopausal Asian women with with hormone receptor-positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2) advanced breast cancer. 23% of breast cancer cases worldwide are diagnosed in Asia
• The first large observational multi centre study on angiosarcoma, which reveals the complexity of angiosarcoma and the heterogeneity of treatment across Asia. The study is presented by the Asian Sarcoma Consortium. Angiosarcoma is an uncommon form of soft tissue sarcoma that has poor prognosis. Optimal first line treatment remains to be defined.
• Overall health status in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer treated with nivolumab or docetaxel in the CheckMate 057 study
• Efficacy and safety of nivolumab for recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) in Asia: CheckMate 141 subgroup analysis

Delegates attending the ESMO Asia 2016 Congress will discuss novel treatment strategies across all tumour types and subtypes, as well as current clinical challenges. The ESMO Asia 2016 Congress programme will also highlight bioethical, economic and social challenges posed by cancer, such as the rising costs of treatments, the need for psychological support for patients, the demand for better palliative care and the vital importance of improving access to innovative drugs.

With over 500 scheduled presentations by top international faculty, ESMO Asia 2016 Congress is the place to be for oncologists, researchers, radiotherapists, surgeons and all other medical professionals involved in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients with cancer. Last year, the inaugural ESMO Asia 2015 congress attracted oncology professionals from over 32 countries.