Message from MASCC President Elect & Board Member, Maryam Lustberg

We shall not cease from exploration, and at the end of that exploring will be able to arrive where we started and know the place for the very first time. – T.S. Eliot

It has been about a year this March when the reality of COVID-19 became known to many of us. For some, such as our members in Asia, it was many months earlier. By this time last year, as a global community, we were all beginning to become aware of the magnitude of the pandemic and all the ramifications and ripples that would be felt in so many areas of our personal and professional lives. Reflecting back on the past year, we begin to see certain events and shifts, including ones in supportive cancer care delivery, with a new lens. Here are my reflections on the past year.

The magnitude of lives lost: Globally, over two and half million lives have been lost due to COVID-19 or its complications (as of press time). A year ago, many of us would not have imagined the scope of loss that would ensue. Lives were changed and so many millions of family members were impacted.

A global community: As we have grappled with COVID-19, the global nature of our interactions and our communities is clearer than ever before. From the trajectories of virus transmission across the globe to the international accelerated pace of vaccine development, we are interconnected, and our actions affect one another.

Change and innovation: Telehealth technology had been available for some time. But COVID-19 sparked a new necessity for telehealth and led to its rapid adoption by many health systems. These platforms are much less mysterious now to many of us. This improved access to care for many patients has also heightened disparities for others experiencing the digital divide, including patients in rural communities and underserved minority populations. Looking back at the past year, we can sadly see how health disparities and inequities actually widened. How to best address these multi-layer complexities will also take a global concerted effort and the collective will to address these injustices.

Access to care: Virtual visits are helpful and convenient, but they are also limited. In hindsight, better global communication to our patients about the importance of maintaining cancer screening visits as much as possible and coming in for urgent evaluations may have led to fewer complications and more advanced cancer presentations that we are seeing now. Cancer supportive care services, including access to many evidenced-based approaches (e.g., oncology rehabilitation, exercise programs and acupuncture) to manage cancer related symptoms, were also very restricted in the past year. Our patients living with cancer have felt the burden of these access issues and need additional guidance from us in terms of the way to best address.

It can get lonely: Many of us remember the first month or two being so thrilled about having the freedom to work from home. Then months passed, and it became clearer how much our inspiration and happiness quotient is triggered by regular in-person interactions with colleagues and friends. Work and personal life boundaries became harder to delineate in the past year and many of us worked harder than ever trying to manage the demands of extra clinical time, professional responsibilities, and family needs. For those of us seeing patients, it was painful to watch family members separated from their loved ones during critical junctures. All of these experiences can further compound feelings of exhaustion and moral distress.

Going forward: Many of us are tired, we have experienced losses, and may be burnt out. As we reflect on this past year, there will be many lessons, accomplishments, and regrets for us as well as our patients. There are no easy answers, and we all need the time and the space to process what this past year has meant for us. As a MASCC community, we look forward to continuing to focus on addressing the gaps in cancer supportive care that become further accentuated by the realities of COVID-19. Thank you for being a part of this community and for all the dedicated engagement to improving supportive cancer care globally. Please take time for yourself if you can and rest because, without a doubt, you probably need it.

Maryam Lustberg, MD, MPH

MASCC President Elect and Board Member Maryam Lustberg Named Director of The Breast Center and Chief of Breast Medical Oncology

MASCC President Elect and Board Member Maryam Lustberg, MD, MPH, has been appointed Director of The Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Chief of Breast Medical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center. She will also join the faculty at Yale Cancer Center as an Associate Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology).

Lustberg joins Yale from The Ohio State University where she is an Associate Professor in the Division of Medical Oncology at The James, Director of their Breast Cancer Survivorship Program, and Medical Director of Supportive Care. She has been recognized for her patient-focused care with awards that include being rated by Forbes as one of the top breast medical oncologists in the nation and named to the Castle Connolly list of “Regional Top Doctors,” and “Exceptional Women in Medicine” for 2020. She is currently participating in the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Leadership Development Program. Read more.

Help Spread the Word!

Our 2021 Annual Meeting will take place virtually on June 24-26. A Promotional Toolkit is now available - here you will find PowerPoint slide sets, banners, adverts, and signature banners to use in your email signature files. We encourage all members to take advantage of these resources and let your colleagues know about MASCC and our next meeting.

The MASCC/ISOO Annual Meeting is the pre-eminent multidisciplinary conference on supportive care in cancer. It covers the range of problems experienced by cancer patients as a result of the disease and its treatments. Register Today.

This year's meeting focuses on several themes of critical importance in supportive cancer care, including: the impact of COVID-19 and the pandemic on supportive cancer care, bioethics, cardio-oncology, and models of supportive care.  There will also be sessions on MASCC’s various Study Groups. View all of the program highlights.

  Plenary Sessions  

COVID-19

• Overview of COVID-19 Pandemic - Dr Jose Miguel Cisneros Herreros (Spain)
• The Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Care and Patients - Dr Matti Aapro (Switzerland)
• The Ethics / Law Around Triaging and Rationing Treatment in Times of Pandemics - Prof Richard Huxtable (United Kingdom)

Models of Supportive Care

• Supportive Care - 30 years of MASCC - Prof Dorothy Keefe (Australia)
• Models of Supportive Care - What's the Evidence? - Dr Florian Scotté (France)
• Supportive Care - A Luxury in Lower Middle-Income Economies? - Dr Enrique Soto Perez de Celis (Mexico)

Cardio-oncology

• Cardio-Oncology: Beyond Left Ventricular Dysfunction - Dr Thomas Suter (Switzerland)
• Looking at Cardio-Toxicity in the Clinical and Research Setting - Dr Michael Ewer (USA)
• The Oncologists’ View of Cardio-Oncology: How Can We Help Each Other Most Effectively as We Try to Help our Patients - Dr Steven Lipshultz (USA)

Bioethics

• Ethical Principles – One Size Fits All? - Dr Richard Huxtable (UK)
• New Treatments, New Ethical Challenges - Dr Ian Olver (Australia)

Meet the Experts

• Patient Engagement - Speakers: Anne McKenzie (Australia) and Anna Boltong (Facilitator), (Australia)

For any further questions about the meeting, please email us at events@mascc.org.

MASCC offers a free new course for members in the Education Portal on Opioid Induced Constipation. Opioids can provide pain relief for people with later-stage cancer. However, these drugs can also have adverse effects, including constipation. The Opioid Induced Constipation course has two modules. As a member you have access to these on-demand courses. Make sure to optimize your membership benefit and learn about this important topic today by logging on here.

Module 1, an educational video will cover:

• An introduction to opioid-induced constipation (OIC) and how it differs from other types of constipation
• A large study in the United Kingdom and sharing the quantitative data on OIC (StOIC 1 study)
• Shared patient stories on their experiences with OIC

Module 2, a recorded webinar which will cover:

• The importance of a holistic approach to supportive care
• Adherence to treatment guidelines to ensure appropriate patient management
• Relevance of considering quality of life measures when treating opioid-induced constipation (OIC)

 Editor’s Pick

Throughout the year, we will share articles from the MASCC journal Supportive Care in Cancer. The “Editor’s Pick” section, chosen by the journal’s Editor-In-Chief, Dr. Fred Ashbury, PhD, will cover a variety of topics to meet the many interests of our membership.

This month we feature:

“Supportive care needs and service use during palliative care in family caregivers of patients with advanced cancer: a prospective longitudinal study”

From the article: “This study aimed to investigate the supportive care needs of family caregivers (FCs) of advanced cancer patients and their support service use at the beginning of specialist inpatient palliative care (SIPC), near the patient’s death, and during bereavement.”

 Positions & Fellowships

Supportive Care Clinical and Research Positions

Employment: Palliative Care Physician
Seidman Cancer Center, University Hospitals, Cleveland Medical Center
Cleveland, Ohio

Fellowship: Academic Supportive Oncology Fellowship
Atrium Health,  Levine Cancer Institute
Charlotte, North Carolina

Employment: Faculty Position (full time)
Division of Biomedical Statistics & Informatics in the Department of Health Sciences Research - Mayo Clinic
Rochester, Minnesota

Employment: Research Director Mixed Methods
Cancer Support Community’s Research & Training Institute
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Visit MASCC’s healthcare professionals employment and fellowship page for more listings.

For more information about this career service and related fees to post, please contact our office at mascc.office@mascc.org.

 Upcoming Conferences

March 18 - 20 - VIRTUAL
NCCN 2021 Annual Conference

April 20, 22, 27, and 29 - VIRTUAL
ONS 46th Annual Congress

June 4-8 - VIRTUAL
ASCO Annual Meeting

June 24-26 - VIRTUAL
MASCC/ISOO Annual Meeting
Supportive Care in Cancer

Sept. 17-21 - VIRTUAL
2021 ESMO Congress

  Key Dates  

Early-bird Registration
ends: April 28

@CancerCareMASCC

#MASCC21

#ISOO21

#SUPPONC

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New MASCC Members

A warm welcome to the new members who joined us in February 2021. 

Australia
Anna Chur-Hansen
Olivia Hollingdrake
Peter Nguyen
Regina Kendall

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Anđa Ćazić

Brazil
Bernar Benites (ISOO)

Canada
Jocelyn White
Lauren Kanee

France
Blot Francois

Hong Kong
Ying Chu Choi (ISOO)

India
Abdul Ghafur
Amit Jotwani
Neha Smriti
Anubha Bharthuar
Arun Goel
Ashay Karpe
Ashwin Dabhi
Ashish Bakshi
Bhavesh Poladia
Bhuvan Chugh
Dushyant Mandalik
Vaishali Deshmukh
Dibyendu Sharma
Divya Choudhary
Divyesh Kumar
Rohit Pai
Amol Patel
Joydeep Ghosh
Nidhhi Tandon
Abhay Kapoor
Akash Shukla
Arvind Krishnamurthy
Atul Narayankar
Biswajit Dubashi
Deepak Chhabra
Deep Goel
Ghanshyam Biswas
Meenu Walia
Sanket Mehta
Mehul Bhansali
Latha Sneha
Vamshi Krishna
Nilesh Chordiya
Ashwin Polnaya
Prathmesh Pai
Raja Pramanik
Ravi Thippeswamy
Rima Pathak
Sanjay M H
Sanjay Sharma
Shruti Kate
Sadashivadu Gundeti
Vivek Agarwala
Gauri Kapoor
Kumar Prabhash
Priyanka Lad
Lakshmi Haridas
Madhuchanda Kar
Madhuri Lokapur
Amita Maheshwari
Manish Bhandare
Mansi Sharma
R C Mistry
K M Mohandas
Mary Muckaden
Mudit Agarwal
N K Warrier
Nandini Menon
Shyam Aggarwal
Neha Bidvai
Indusekhar Subbanna
K Pavithran
Rakesh Pinninti
Prasanth Penumadu
Poonam Patil
Prachi Patil
Prakash Chitalkar
Prathepa Jagdish
Raghu Thota
Rajeswari Alagirimunuswamy
Sonal Rane
Raghunadharao Digumarti
Rejiv Rajendranath
Roshni Pandey
Ritika Samaddar
Saadvik Raghuram
Sai Preeth K
Ramesh Sarin
Savita Goswami
Supriya Ghanbahadur
S H Advani
Shailesh Bondarde
Simran Kaur
Saroj Kanta Mishra
Shekar Patil
Sudeep Gupta
Suyash Kulkarni
Yadav Nisha

Korea, Republic of
Gukjin Lee

Philippines
Jocelyn Que

United Kingdom
Ningfeng Li
Gemma Bryan

United States
Annalyse Victor
Hsiaofen Weng (ISOO)
Jennifer Vaughn
Jennifer Miller
Joan Fox
Mark Trombetta
Robert Tyler

Future Meetings
Mark your calendar and watch for more news about future MASCC/ISOO Annual Meetings! 

Links to Notice

Opportunities

Supportive Care Positions & Fellowships
Employment opportunities, post-doctorate research fellowships and training programs.

If you have any ideas for content or other comments about the Society News, please email us at societynews@mascc.org

All recent issues of the MASCC Society News are available online. Older issues (before 2013) can be found in the back pages of our journal, Supportive Care in Cancer.

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