MASCC/ISOO 2022 Meeting Highlights
June 23-25 • Toronto, Canada • #MASCC22
In 2022, MASCC/ISOO hosted our first ever hybrid Annual Meeting, with delegates able to join either in-person in Toronto, Canada, or virtually.
In-person delegates had the chance to explore the vibrant and diverse city of Toronto, with its foodie delights, arts & culture, and abundant summer festivals. Known for its diversity and multiculturalism, Toronto’s innovative and collaborative spirit made it the perfect host for the 2022 meeting.
This year’s meeting themes were:
- Supportive Care Post-COVID-19: Best Practices
- Disparities in Supportive Care: Solutions Needed
- Big Data and Predictive Analytics in Supportive Care
- Patient Empowerment and Self-Management Enhancement
- Burnout in Oncology (both healthcare professionals and caregivers)
These themes were showcased particularly in our three plenary sessions on Burnout, Health Disparities, and Digital Health. Our speakers discussed, among other topics, the role of hope in burnout, integrating patient-reported outcomes into electronic health record systems, and the impact of health disparities on the life-long care of childhood cancer survivors.
In fact, MASCC welcomed a new President at this Annual Meeting: Dr Maryam Lustberg, MD, MPH. Delegates had the opportunity to hear from Dr Lustberg during the Opening Ceremony, where she discussed her vision and priorities for the organization over the next two years: 1) Increase access to evidence-based supportive care globally 2) Invest in the science of supportive care and global education initiatives 3) Expand partnerships and collaborations globally.
One of our newer collaborative initiatives is the Consumer Engagement (Patient Advocacy) Committee, whose work was showcased in the “Meet the Experts” session “How Can MASCC Partner with Patients and People Affected by Cancer?”. This session featured a lively discussion amongst panelists and delegates on how we can best learn from and partner with people affected by cancer, including presentations from Dr Maryam Lustberg, Prof Bogda Koczwara, ex-consumer Prof Michael Lovas, and Dr Enrique Soto.
We also hosted a number of joint sessions: with our affiliates (AFSOS, IASCC, NICSO, AICSO, SASCC, and RASSC), our Nursing Society partners, and with The Scientific Network on Female Sexual Health. Our final joint session of the Meeting was held with our affiliate JASCC, discussing patient empowerment and self-management enhancement. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with JASCC next year for our 2023 Annual Meeting in Nara, Japan.
Thanks to everyone who joined us in Toronto this year: our speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, session chairs, e-poster presenters, and of course our attendees. After the many delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was wonderful to be able to bring our community together again.