Pancreatic cancer is currently the 5th most common cause of cancer death in Australia and is predicted to become the 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths globally by 2030.
An early evening forum in December, convened by Professor Peter Gibbs, VCCC Research & Education Lead in GI Cancers will provide an opportunity to review the latest local and international evidence with a view to developing consensus on treatment standards for this disease.
A challenge and opportunity for pancreatic cancer in Victoria is a lack of accepted treatment standards across the state for early-stage and borderline resectable pancreatic cancer, and varying treatment options may have an influence on patient outcomes.
The meeting will aim to bring the latest cross-disciplinary evidence to the table for discussion and will progress some of the work highlighted in the 2018 Pancreatic Cancer: Optimising Treatment workshop.
Dr Belinda Lee, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Hemstritch Centenary Research Fellow and medical oncologist Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre is returning on the program for 2019 joined by experts from across the VCCC alliance including Dr Hyun Ko, senior consultant radiologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, A/Prof Lara Lipton medical oncologist Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Western Health and Senior Research Fellow at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Dr Brett Knowles, hepatobiliary and upper GI surgeon, Royal Melbourne Hospital and Dr Richard Kor consultant radiation oncologist, Austin Health.
Dr Lee will provide an update from the PURPLE translational registry which currently underpins a wide range of translational studies and has proven successful in providing and enhancing consistent, data sharing to build knowledge and provide comparisons for research.
A further major focus of the meeting will be to collectively test whether Victoria is ready to define treatment standards in early stage pancreatic cancer, and participants will explore the opportunity to form an expert group to annually review the latest treatment evidence and make recommendations for practice guidelines in Victoria.
All participants will be able to share thoughts via interactive voting and discussions facilitated by Steve Trumble, clinical teacher and head of the University of Melbourne Department of Medical Education.
Professor Peter Gibbs provides leadership across the VCCC alliance for gastro-intestinal cancers; focusing on pancreatic cancer and says,
With the assistance of data and dialogue we have made significant inroads to understanding how to better treat patients with the poorest outcomes. This meeting will bring us closer to implementing sustainable solutions to ensure that the latest treatment evidence reaches Victorian pancreatic cancer patients.
Resources from last year’s pancreatic cancer meeting can be accessed via the VCCC website’s Learn pages.
Registrations are now open for the VCCC Pancreatic Cancer Symposium to be held 6.00pm – 8.30pm, 4 December at the VCCC.
