Preventing the preventable
Treating the treatable
Systems to make it happen

• What the World Cancer Congress offers
• A programme aligned with the World Cancer Declaration
• A special emphasis on Asian countries
• Attendance
• Programme calendar
• Programme outline

What the World Cancer Congress offers

This unique Congress will review in broad terms the very latest knowledge about cancer causes, prevention, treatment and care. It will examine how to optimize plans to control cancer now and influence a nation’s or a region’s cancer agenda as well as assess the role of cancer organizations in implementing the cancer agenda. This event will be a valuable opportunity to discuss and review knowledge and skills and to reassess policies and programmes with other experts from around the world. The different sessions will be an opportunity to review the progress made, go in depth on current issues and hear from the experts on future challenges and opportunities. The scientific programme will be developed along the following tracks:

• Cancer prevention
• Cancer treatment
• Supportive and palliative care
• Tobacco control
• Cross track

A comprehensive description of the tracks can be found in the programme outline below.

A programme aligned with the World Cancer Declaration

Within each track, the content of the Congress will be driven by the 11 targets of the World Cancer Declaration 2008 (WCD) that was elaborated in Geneva at the 2008 Leadership Summit. Hereafter is a summary of the WCD goals:

• Target 1: Ensure effective delivery systems in all countries
• Target 2: Significantly improve measurement of cancer burden
• Target 3: Decrease tobacco, alcohol consumption & obesity
• Target 4: Universal coverage of HPV/HBV vaccine
• Target 5: Dispel damaging myths & misconceptions
• Target 6: More cancers diagnosed via screening & early detection
• Target 7: Improve access to diagnosis, treatment, rehab & palliative care
• Target 8: Universal availability of effective pain control
• Target 9: Improve training opportunities for cancer control professionals
• Target 10: Reduce emigration of healthcare workers specialized in cancer
• Target 11: Major improvements in global cancer survival rates

Please click here to find the full text of the World Cancer Declaration

A special emphasis on Asian countries

A number of sessions will target specific Asian cancer issues. Some of these sessions will be delivered in Chinese or translated into Chinese due to the high number of expected Chinese delegates. The programme will also allow for sessions in other languages if requested (French, Spanish, etc).

Attendance

This Congress is for …
… current and intending oncology clinicians, chief executives, behavioral scientists, board members, social marketers, research policy makers, public affairs lobbyists, advocates, health educators, journalists, PR officers, fundraisers, medical educators, nurse counselors, prevention programme managers, volunteer visitors, social workers, administrators, cancer information providers, volunteer co-coordinators, consumers, cancer patients, epidemiologists, trainers, merchandisers, oncology leaders.

Programme calendar

Programme outline

Plenaries summary
Track 1 Cancer prevention
Track 2 Cancer treatment
Track 3 Supportive and palliative care
Track 4 Tobacco control
Cross-track sessions

Plenaries summary

Thursday, 19 August 2010:  Knowledge base for system change
Speakers will present evidence on which to base programs that will impact upon the burden of cancer.

The four topics addressed will be:

1. Basic research to inform prevention programs of the future
2. Windows of opportunity from basic biology
3. Prospects in treatment of cancer
4. Making counting count: Surveillance as part of the knowledge base for system change

Friday, 20 August 2010: Frameworks for system change
It follows that once there is an evidence base for action, frameworks need to be put in place to remove barriers and enable change to take place. Speakers will discuss the successes and possibilities of existing and potential frameworks which could facilitate system change.

The four topics addressed will be:

1. Legislation, litigation, regulation - the untapped potential of public health law and policy in cancer control.
2. International collaborations in research and clinical practice - successes and possibilities.
3. Are the structures in place for global tobacco control?
4. Cancer control and the Development agenda for economic and social advancement

Saturday, 21 August 2010:  Actions for system change
Encouraging the adoption of enabling frameworks and ensuring they are used to drive change requires strategic action. Speakers will draw on their experiences in driving the global fight against cancer and challenge delegates to take further effective actions to achieve system change.

The four topics addressed will be:

1. Community mobilization strategies for the 21^st century
2. Ending the pain - what has to be done for 5 million sufferers
3. Lessons from the science behind social marketing for cancer control
4. From Declaration to deeds - a strategy for meeting the 2020 goals of the World Cancer Declaration

Track 1 Cancer prevention

Facts
Cancer control can be achieved through sustained strategies of primary prevention and successful early detection. These are evidence-based activities that benefit from rigorous evaluation.

As well as government, voluntary cancer organizations have a vital role in identifying prevention opportunities and advocating for population-wide implementation of proven prevention strategies.

Audience
The sessions are for those involved in cancer control research and programme implementation - public health scientists and practitioners, epidemiologists, public health educators, behavioural scientists, investigators, and project managers - who wish to expand their knowledge of new strategies. Voluntary cancer societies and leagues, patient support and advocacy groups, and cancer networks should also be interested in these sessions.

List of session titles (preliminary)
The prevention track will include sessions on:

• Legal strategies in prevention: legislation, litigation, regulation
• Nutritional risk factors for cancer: research methods and results
• Multi-sector approaches to enhancing physical activity and healthy eating
• Vitamin D: its place in cancer control
• Alcohol and cancer: how and why we should act
• Preventing cancer through healthy environments
• Research, practice and policy innovations in cancer prevention
• Innovation and change: small scale prevention programs in low-income countries
• Effectiveness of population screening for cancer control
• The role of primary care and NGOs in cancer prevention and screening
• Cancer screening in developing countries: critical appraisal and applicability
• Primary prevention of HPV/cervical cancer: vaccination and the integration of vaccination in screening
• Secondary prevention of HPV/cervical cancer: traditional and new technologies / surveillance
• Screening and treatment of chronic HBV infection for prevention of liver cancer in addition to HBV vaccination
• Colorectal cancer screening

 Analysis and organization of local, regional, national and international systems for cancer prevention will be featured.

Track 2 Cancer treatment

Facts
There are unprecedented scientific and clinical advances in the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Many rely on vast resources and highly developed technology and are not widely available in the developing world. However, there are many affordable and feasible treatment options that remain under-utilized in the developing world because adequate systems for delivery have not been put in place.

Audience
The sessions are for cancer researchers, health professionals, clinicians, nurses, general practitioners, epidemiologists, pathologists, educators, counselors, medical and nursing students, as well as cancer society staff and volunteers.

List of session titles (preliminary)
The cancer treatment track will include sessions on:

• Treatment of colorectal cancer
• Esophageal and gastric cancer: a global problem
• Clinical trials in developing countries
• Can we make high technology radiotherapy affordable?
• Internet applications: treatment
• Classic pathology requires quality control: lessons learned
• Liver: primary and metastatic disease
• Latest developments in GYN cancer: cervix, endometrial and ovarian
• Treatment of lung cancer
• Breast cancer
• Epidermoid head and neck cancer
• Prostate cancer
• High performing cancer systems 

This treatment track will include a number of sessions led by Chinese experts on the following topics (with simultaneous translation):

• Lung cancer
• Biotherapy
• Translational research
• Gastrointestinal cancer
• Head & neck
• Lymphomia & Leukemia
• Breast cancer
• Mini-invasive surgical treatment / imaging
• Liver cancer

Track 3 Supportive and palliative care

Facts
Receiving a cancer diagnosis changes people’s lives dramatically. It brings fear and uncertainty, physical challenges and serious financial implications. It affects families, partners and friends. Supportive and palliative care from time of diagnosis should be a basic right of every cancer patient, and programmes need to be strengthened.

Audience
The sessions are for survivors, volunteers, and cancer and health professionals engaged in peer support, behavioural researchers, medical and nursing students and residents, patient educators, hospice staff, specialists in rehabilitation and palliative care, and all those who care for cancer patients and their families.

List of sessions (preliminary): 
The supportive care track will include sessions on:

• Health professional discussion of intimacy after cancer
• Psychosocial impact of surviving cancer
• Internet applications in delivering supportive care interventions
• Community participation in cancer prevention, early detection and palliative care - challenges
• The evidence supporting the role of patient support groups in cancer control
• Cancer pain assessment and management: what’s new and exciting veersus just new
• Effective, simple and low cost management of chemotherapy-induced emesis
• Delirium: the most common neuropsychiatric complication of cancer and its treatment
• Cachexia and fatigue among cancer patients and survivors
• The new challenge in supportive care: assessing and managing the toxicity of targeted therapies
• Principles and pratice of communication in cancer care: east meets west
• The interaction between palliative care and oncology: a win-win situation
• Screening for supportive care needs among cancer patients and their families

Analysis and organization of local, regional, national and international systems for improving the quality of supportive care will be featured.

Track 4 Tobacco control

Facts
Tobacco use is a major cause of preventable cancers and death. Effective global action is needed to cut tobacco use and save lives. There is a need to understand the scale of the tobacco epidemic, share successful tobacco control efforts, best practices and intervention techniques, and improve strategies for effective implementation worldwide of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Audience
The sessions are for tobacco control researchers, professionals, educators, advocates, project managers, governmental policy decision-makers, and all those involved in the implementation of smoke free policies.

Topics
As tobacco control remains the single largest preventable cause of cancer, it has been allocated its own Congress track.

The tobacco control track will include sessions on:

• The FCTC 5 years after entry into force: achievements and challenges
• Impact of smokefree policies in the population
• Translating tobacco related research into advocacy action
• Monitoring tobacco related mortality and morbidity in Asia-Pacific region
• Promoting the use of hard-hitting media message in tobacco high-burden countries
• Cessation support in HK and China
• Innovations and developments in assisting tobacco smokers to stop smoking
• Strengthening tax and customs administration capacity to reduce illict trade and improve public health
• Using excise taxes to improve public health / What Governements can do at low cost: taxation, labelling, regulation, etc.
• Tobacco and Lung Health Professionals: what lung health professionals can do to prevent the harmful effect of tobacco
• Why and how we need to end tobacco industry interference in the public health agenda
• Advertising, promotion and sponsorship 

Cross-track sessions

Facts
There are many topics which are relevant to a wide range of people with an interest in cancer control, whether they work principally in prevention, treatment, or supportive care.

Audience
The sessions are for those involved in running cancer societies and leagues, patient support and advocacy groups, and cancer networks. They will be of interest to board members, project managers, programme staff, advocates, educators, researchers, and governmental policy decision-makers, among others.

Topics
Cross-track sessions will include:

• National cancer control planning
• Global variations in cancer incidence and mortality
• Cancer burden and its attribution to selected risk factors: update by region, cancer type and risk factor
• The World Cancer Declaration: promoting equity, human dignity and human rights
• Supporting system leaders in managing the impact and risk that cancer represents to populations
• Grassroots advocacy through new media - opportunities and challenges
• Economic cost of cancer
• Cancer control in community

The role of the community in all aspects of cancer control.