ASTRO Annual Meeting to reflect theme of ‘enhancing value, improving outcomes’

The American Society for Radiation Oncology will hold its annual meeting from Sept. 25 to 28 in Boston.

More than 10,000 people are expected to attend, making this one of ASTRO’s largest meetings to date.

David C. Beyer

This year’s theme will highlight the importance of enhancing value and improving patient outcomes in the radiation oncology field.

“We are in a time of unprecedented change in the health care system,” David C. Beyer, MD, FASTRO, ASTRO president and medical director at Cancer Centers of Northern Arizona Healthcare, told HemOnc Today. “As we try to navigate our way through this, there are astounding opportunities for us as radiation oncologists to think of better ways to do what it is that we do on a daily basis.”

Beyer spoke with HemOnc Today about the research scheduled to be presented at the meeting, the challenges facing the field of radiation oncology, and how ASTRO plans to initiate the conversation to address some of these challenges.

Question : What makes this year’s ASTRO Annual Meeting unique?

Answer: I have tried to make this meeting about how we can rethink our processes, where we fit in the multidisciplinary care of patients with cancer, and how we can better define the value of radiation oncology. We are have new combination treatments available, such as radiation therapy combined with chemotherapy or immunotherapy, and radical changes in how we administer the radiation. These are the things that will make this meeting so exciting.

Q: What are the big-picture themes ?

A: The theme of this year’s meeting is Enhancing Value and Improving Outcomes. When we at ASTRO sent the requests for abstracts, we were specifically looking for the types of presentations and panel discussions that address value — the different ways of looking at value, the different ways of showing value and, in some cases, coming up with different answers of value.

Q: Are there specific studies attendees should watch for?

A: There are a number of large, national studies that are going to be reported for the first time. One is a study that began in 2002 by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), which looks at brachytherapy for prostate cancer. We will have the first report of RTOG 0232, which I am very excited about. It has been in the works for 13 years and I think it will be a practice-changing study. There are a couple of other studies that are not as much about the science as about the policy side of radiation oncology. In our press program, we have a study conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency looking at the use of radiation therapy in middle-income countries. We will have a forum on this topic, because this meeting is as much of an international meeting as it is a U.S. meeting. There also is a very interesting study that has proposed a mechanism to reduce racial disparities in the treatment of lung cancer. We also have a number of studies looking at patients’ quality of life. For example, a phase 3 study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is looking at pelvic intensity-modulated radiation therapy in women receiving gynecologic treatments as a way of improving quality of life. There also are several studies looking at lower fractions of radiation levels and whether we can get away with lower radiation levels.

Q: What are the greatest challe nges in radiation oncology ?

A: The challenge faced by every physician in the United States is the changing health care system. We are working in an environment that is rapidly evolving, and this is posing a great challenge and anxiety. Another challenge is trying to figure out how we fit in the triad of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Where does radiation work best, and where does it best belong? How do we integrate ourselves in the overall cancer program if one happens to be at a major cancer center or if you happen to be at a community center that does not have a multidisciplinary program? Where we fit in in this universe of radiation oncology, medical oncology and surgical oncology is very much in motion. This is an exciting opportunity and a huge challenge for the field of radiation oncology.

Q: Will these challenges be reflected in the content scheduled for presentation at the meeting?

A: We do not have a solution to all of the problems, but we do have 29 panels, eight workshops and 52 educational sessions. A number of these will focus on how radiation oncology integrates in the realm of these challenges. The presidential symposium, which will focus primarily on prostate cancer, will feature a speaker dedicated to the development of interdisciplinary clinics and how to best manage these complicated patients in a multidisciplinary environment. I had a conversation the other day with one of the speakers and I suggested to make the presentation useful for the oncologist who works at a major university hospital, as well as the oncologist who is working in a small community hospital. We will have some of the answers to our current challenges, but we will not solve all of them. We will, however, start the conversation in the right direction.

Q: What are you looking forward to the most at the meeting?

A: I have been attending this meeting for years. I go as a practicing doctor looking to learn something new and to change something I am doing back in my clinic. I want to learn new tricks and gain some insights that I can then share with my colleagues when I return home. I also am looking forward to including ASTRO in this conversation of how we can improve value and enhance the value of the radiation oncologist in the cancer care team.

Q: Is there anything else that you would like to mention?

A: Boston is always a great convention city, and there are so many of us with ties in the city, especially because many of us attended school there at various times throughout our careers. I am looking forward to what I hope will be one of the largest conventions that ASTRO has ever put together, based upon early registration numbers. This will be an extremely well-attended, national and international convention, so there should be many opportunities for exchange of ideas. I am very excited. – by Jennifer Southall

For more information:

David C. Beyer, MD, can be reached at Cancer Centers of Northern Arizona Healthcare, Sedona Campus, 3700 AZ-89A, Sedona, AZ 86336; email: press@astro.org.

Disclosure: Beyer reports no relevant financial disclosures.