Expressnews
● Demystifying the new normal in Cancer Care set the conference rolling
● Over 1000 delegates across India participated in the Oncology conference
Chennai, 28th October 2022: The Indian Society of Medical & Pediatric Oncology (ISMPO) and Indian Society of Oncology (ISO) – under the aegis of “Freedom from Cancer Relief and Research Foundation” organized their Biennial Joint conference – ISMPO ISOCON 2022 Conference in Chennai with the theme Demystifying the new normal in Cancer Care. The faculty from leading academic institutes and cancer centers across India and abroad presented the latest data and interacted with delegates including students and upcoming oncologists.
Inaugurating the three-day conference, Dr. (Smt.) Tamilisai Soundarajan, Hon’ble Governor of Telangana & Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, said, “Cancer is to be considered yet another disease that affects the human body and one should not fear it. In this conference, I am confident experienced oncologists will address the issues and stigma of “Cancer”. The public should know Cancer can be treated if diagnosed at an early stage. The medical fraternity has always been advising everyone to undergo screening for selected cancers at regular intervals to identify and treat such diseases in a timely manner,”.
“Today, Cancer is dealt with the fear that one may have a short life with endless pain and suffering which is untrue. Thanks to advanced technology such as minimally invasive surgeries including Robotic Surgeries, precision radiotherapy and targeted systemic therapies and the best of medical treatments currently available in the country, it is possible for advanced cancer patients to live for many more years when compared to only a few months a few decades ago. The medical developments have been tremendous, and this is one of the topics we will discuss at the conference,” said Dr. Anita Ramesh, Organizing Secretary, ISMPO ISCOCON and Head of Medical Oncology at Saveetha Medical College and Hospital (Chennai).
“The Conference will have many firsts for the faculty and delegates. One of them is the abstracts selected for presentation will be published in the Indian Journal of Medical and Pediatric Oncology (IJMPO), which is an indexed journal. Another is the 6 credit hours that students will be given for attending this conference. These credit points have been granted by the Tamil Nadu Medical Council,” she added.
Highlighting the theme of the conference – “Demystifying the new normal in Cancer Care,” Dr. Arvind Krishnamurthy, Organizing Chairman & Professor and Head, Surgical Oncology, Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai said, that the COVID-19 pandemic had literally forced the global oncology community to re-evaluate how care is delivered to patients with cancer. The plethora of innovations and the data from the real-world experiences gained by treating the cancer patients over the past few years needs to be better leveraged by the cancer care providers and this conference aims to impart this knowledge and skill sets to all its delegates. The scientific program has been specifically designed to include interactive multi-disciplinary teaching workshops which aims to provide a real edge to the practicing oncologists. The interactive teaching workshops included on Radiotherapy, Lymphoma, Oncology Rehabilitation, Oncology Nutrition, Psycho Oncology, Chemo Radiation, Communication Skills, Surgical Skills and DYSPHAGIA management. There was an ASCO Symposium in association with the American Society of Clinical Oncology. “The regular scientific program will have didactic lectures, interactive panel discussions and debates on the latest developments in the management of the most prevalent cancers in India” he added.
The three-day conference with over 1000 delegates consisting of oncologists and students from the medical fraternity witnessed 14 eminent Oncologists being presented with the Life-Time Achievement Award. The Oncologists who received the awards were – Dr. R A. Badwe, Dr. Anil D Cruz, Dr. Hemant Raj, Dr. TG Sagar, Dr. T.S. Subramanium, Dr. Ramesh Billimaga, Dr. Govind Babu, Dr. Hemant Malhotra, Dr. Sanjay Sharma, Dr. Dinesh Pendarkar, Dr. Somasundaram Subramaniam (Russia), Dr. Raghunath Rao, Dr. V Subramanian, and Dr. Rakesh Jalali.
