2020    Do you have a great idea to improve oncology care? Together with the Oncology Nursing Society, Johnson & Johnson announces the Johnson & Johnson Nurses Innovate QuickFire Challenge in Oncology. Nurses worldwide are invited to submit their innovative ideas aimed at improving oncology care — novel concepts, protocols, treatment approaches, and device ideas that may have the power to profoundly change human health. The nurse innovators with the best idea(s) will receive up to $100,000 in grant funding and access to mentoring and coaching from experts across the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies to help bring their ideas to life.

2020    MASCC is considering the development of an app to allow healthcare professionals to quickly search for guidelines and expert opinions on managing the symptoms and side effects of cancer and its treatments. We would like to put together a MASCC Working Group to explore the possibility of developing such an app and provide input on desirable features. The objective is an easily searchable resource that can be used in the clinic or at the bedside to access current management practices in supportive oncology at the point of care. If you are interested, contact Melissa at [email protected].

2020    MASCC is sad to announce that Toni Clark, MASCC Web and Society News Editor, will be retiring.  We thank her for her many contributions.  Her MASCC family sends wishes for much good fortune, safe travels and the best of luck.

A Personal Note on My Retirement

I will be retiring from MASCC and concluding my medical writing career at the end of January but will be on hand for a few weeks to help with the transition to our new Communications Manager. For those who don’t know me well, I’ve had a long career as a medical writer and editor before joining the MASCC team in September 2014 — first in academic research centers and later in private industry at companies that produced diagnostic and management decision-making software. While both settings afforded numerous challenges, opportunities, and great personal satisfaction, MASCC has been the best fit for me — the most congenial atmosphere and the most rewarding work. I’m really happy that the conclusion of my professional work-life has been so gratifying.

2019    Karen Mustian, PhD, MS, MPH, ACSM, FSBM, received this year’s Debra Sivesind Career Award at the 23rd Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Supportive Care, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, held October 18-19, 2019 at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. The Debra Sivesind Career Award recognizes outstanding contributions to palliative care, and Dr. Mustian was recognized for her numerous contributions to symptom management in cancer patients and survivors. Eduardo Bruera, MD, introduced the Award and Dr. Mustian delivered the Award Lecture, “Treatment of Cancer-Related Fatigue in Advanced Patients: What Can We Do Now?”

2019    In November 2019, the Japanese Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (JASCC) became MASCC’s newest affiliate. This affiliation allows for joint membership in both organizations with all membership benefits. MASCC’s affiliate program was designed to strengthen relationships with national associations of supportive care in cancer around the world. Partnering with other organizations helps to promote supportive care at the local level with special attention to each nation’s particular needs and resources, as well as economic and cultural issues. The aim is to create a global network of supportive care organizations that allows for international collaboration, as well as enhancing the experiences of cancer patients worldwide.

2019    2019 Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (JASCC), September 2019, Aomori, Japan
The 4th Annual Meeting of JASCC was held on September 6th and 7th in Aomori, Japan, and was attended by more than 1,000 delegates, including medical and surgical oncologists, radiologists, dentists, pharmacists, physical therapists, nurses, patients, and industry representatives. The meeting was preceded by a presentation for Board members and Councillors on the Medical Information Network Distribution System (MINDS), a method of guideline development.

The second Best of MASCC India meeting, hosted by the Indian Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (IASCC), was held September 14-15 at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai and included more than 130 attendees. IASCC, a subdivision of Nag Foundation, a public charitable trust in Pune, Maharashtra, India, became a MASCC affiliate in May 2019. The meeting was organized by IASCC President Dinesh C. Doval, MD, DM, and Vice-Presidents Sudeep Gupta, MD, DM, and Shona Nag, MD, along with organizing secretaries Vikas Ostwal, MD, DM, Anant Ramaswamy, MD, DM, and Anant Gokam, MD, DM.

2019    The current opioid crisis and efforts to curb it may be contributing to inadequate cancer pain management. This was the core takeaway of the first step in a national initiative in Canada to investigate the impact of the opioid crisis on cancer pain management. Other important insights included the identification of major knowledge gaps, inconsistent reporting of harms, and systems and regulatory impacts that may have significant negative effects on the delivery of cancer pain management.

2019    The Russian Society of Supportive Care in Oncology (RASSC) held its third International Symposium, “Supportive Therapy in Oncology: From Theory to Practice,” in Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation, on October 4th, 2019. The Symposium brought together more than 170 specialists engaged in the treatment of cancer patients throughout the region. Doctors, students, and residents learned about recent advances and the range of national and global opportunities in supportive oncology. This year, the Symposium gained international status following the signing, in June 2019, of an affiliation agreement between RASSC and MASCC.

2019    Our October issue carried the article “MASCC and Social Media, Part I: Why Social Media Matters,” which considered the importance of social media to healthcare organizations, including MASCC. From its origins as a means of social exchange and keeping in touch with friends, social media has rapidly evolved to become a powerful platform for sharing information with customers, clients, and colleagues. In the healthcare sphere, it now provides a major means of disseminating best practices and the latest clinical and research findings and is also rapidly becoming an extension of the patient-provider relationship. MASCC has made a commitment to using social media to advance knowledge of supportive cancer care, connect with professionals and patients alike, and increase its visibility as the prime international and multidisciplinary organization devoted to supportive care in cancer.

2019    The NCI-Supported Clinical Research Training in Cancer Control Program at the University of Rochester provides post-doctoral MD or PhD researchers with knowledge and experience to establish careers as outstanding independent investigators in cancer control and prevention research. For more information, see www.futureresearchers.org. Or contact Program Directors, Drs. Michelle Janelsins and Gary Morrow, or Program Director Kate Kessler, at [email protected].  A description is also listed at Supportive Care Clinical and Research Positions.

2019    MASCC’s Pediatrics Study Group, led by Chair Andrea Orsey, MD, MSCE and Vice-Chair Jason Freedman, MD, MSCE, aims to promote and improve supportive care for pediatric cancer patients and survivors and to ensure that pediatric supportive care is considered in all practice guidelines, research, and clinical endeavors.

2019    The 2019 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Barcelona (Sept. 27 to Oct. 1) featured a Supportive and Palliative Care Track chaired by Florian Scotté, MD, PhD, and included on its Committee MASCC members Matti S. Aapro, MD, Paolo Bossi, MD, Jørn Herrstedt, MD, Karin Jordan, MD, Vincent Launay-Vacher, MD, and Carla Ida Ripamonti, MD. There were also two joint sessions that included MASCC, one with ESMO and the other with the European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS).

2019    The 9th Cancer Toxicity Management Meeting will be held December 5-6, 2019, in Paris, France. The meeting was founded by MASCC Board member Florian Scotté, MD, PhD, and is sponsored by MASCC and AFSOS (Association Francophone des Soins Oncologiques de Support).

This year’s program features sessions on innovative treatments, impacts of treatments, treatment sequence, and tolerance to immunotherapies. Other topics of discussion include therapeutic cannabis, antiemetics, and patient care recommendations. The program will include a session at which young physicians will present examples of innovative care in oncology. Among the speakers are numerous MASCC members, including Matti Aapro, MD, Andrea Antonuzzo, MD, Richard Berman, MBBS, MRCGP, FRCP, Paolo Bossi, MD, Mario Di Palma, MD, Pere Gascón, MD, FRCP, Richard Gralla, MD, Karin Jordan, MD, Jean Klastersky, MD, Fausto Roila, MD, and Florian Scotté, MD, PhD.

This year also marks the first Jean Klastersky Award, created to recognize young physicians involved in the care of cancer patients. Candidates are invited to submit an application documenting a clinical case of innovative care or a proposal for a study on cancer toxicity management. From among the applicants, six candidates will be selected to present their work at the meeting. The awardee will receive financial support and complimentary registration at the 2020 MASCC/ISOO Annual Meeting. The application deadline for the Jean Klastersky Award is November 20, 2019.

2019    The National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) will host the inaugural Best of MASCC Singapore meeting on November 30, 2019, with the theme of “Supporting Cancer Patients and Survivors.” MASCC Board member Alex Chan, PharmD, MPH, FCCP, BCPS, BCOP, played a key role in organizing this event. The goal of the meeting is to increase awareness of supportive and survivorship care and to advance supportive care practices in Singapore. There is no fee to register.

2019    Ian Olver, AM, MD, PhD, has been awarded the Tom Reeve Award for Outstanding Contributions to Cancer Care by the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA). The award, announced in September 2019 by COSA CEO Marie Malica, is the most prestigious national award in Australia in the field of clinical oncology.

2019    MASCC’s Survivorship Study Group invites healthcare professionals involved in the care of cancer patients to share their experiences and perceptions regarding patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in a 10-minute online survey. The Study Group is investigating oncology practitioners' current strategies and experiences in applying PROs in clinical practice, performance measurement, and research. The aims are (1) to explore practitioners’ experiences and perceptions on the use of PROs in routine clinical care at the patient level and (2) to assess the value of PROs as a performance or quality-of-care indicator at the system level. This study has been approved by the Institutional Review Boards of Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the Edith Cowan University, Western Australia.
If you are interested in participating, please follow this link for more information and the online survey by July 31, 2020: Patient-Reported Outcomes (PRO) Data Collection in Routine Care: An International Survey of Oncology Practitioners.

2019    The 2019 Annual Cancer Treatment-Related Adverse Events Symposium will be held on Friday, October 25, 2019 and Saturday, October 26, 2019 at the Rockefeller Research Laboratories, 430 East 67th Street, New York, NY. The course is directed by MASCC member Mario E. Lacouture, MD, who is the Director of the Oncodermatology Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

2019    Social media is the process whereby people use online tools and platforms to share content and information. Social media platforms include websites where users share, exchange, discuss, and sometimes create or modify content (in the form of text, images, audio and video) in virtual communities on the Internet.

2019    Constipation is a common problem among patients with advanced cancer, with a reported prevalence of 32–87% in this group, in whom it also causes significant morbidity. Opioid-induced constipation appears to be a chronic side effect and is more common in patients with cancer pain than in those with nonmalignant pain. It may be influenced by the type of opioid involved, as well as by genetic factors, but does not appear to be particularly influenced by the dose of opioid.