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Welcome to edition #1 of the SWOG Update.
For all members and friends of the Southwest Oncology Group, the SWOG Update will keep you informed of what's happening with the Group. News to report? Send it to communications@swog.org.
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Why we do what we do
Our mission is straightforward: to make progress in the prevention and cure of cancer through clinical research. Our research objectives define how we work to accomplish our mission.
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You, your colleagues, and your cooperative group in the media ...
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Spring Group Meeting
Three intense days in San Francisco
The Southwest Oncology Group’s 2009 Spring Group Meeting was held in San Francisco in late April.
| See the Crush the Crab winners from the Spring 2009 Group Meeting. |
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| Fall 2009 Group Meeting registration opens Aug. 18 |
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The meeting’s plenary session opened with a preview of the Group’s NCI treatment grant renewal presentation by Group Chair Laurence Baker, D.O. A recording of this presentation is on the SWOG Web site, as is the research plan from the treatment grant renewal application.
Additional plenary presentations (see box at right) included three abstracts that had been accepted for the ASCO 2009 meeting.
Highlighted below are just some of the many presentations that were given over the course of three densely packed days.
The Early Therapeutics Subcommittee heard an extended presentation from Giovanni Melillo, M.D., of the NCI Center for Cancer Research, on hypoxia and the tumor microenvironment. They also had updates on several studies, including news of an abstract from S0528 that had been accepted for presentation at ASCO 2009, and news on S0711, a phase I trial of dasatinib in patients with impaired hepatic function, which was awaiting IRB approvals but was otherwise ready to start accruing patients (approvals have since been issued at at least four institutions).
The Cancer Control and Prevention Committees heard presentations on the closing out of the SELECT trial and on S0820, a protocol now awaiting final review that would test the value of eflornithine and sulindac in preventing disease recurrence in colorectal cancer patients. Ideas for future studies considered included proposals on the feasibility of prescribing exercise in breast cancer patients, on the effectiveness of omega-3 acids in reducing inflammation and joint pain as treatment side effects, on the use of mindfulness meditation to reduce stress and depression in cancer patients, and on the use of focalin to ease chemotherapy after-effects.
A meeting of the Group’s committee chairs discussed experiences with the new CTEP Steering Committee reviews and heard a presentation from the Pharmaceutical Sciences Committee on a database of investigational drugs for SWOG investigators that is now in development.
The Nursing Committee held a workshop on gastrointestinal malignancies and treatment, featuring presentations on colorectal and pancreatic carcinomas and a presentation on biomarkers and anti-cancer therapy by Siu-Fun Wong, Pharm.D. Rose Mary Padberg, R.N., M.A., of the National Cancer Institute presented on best practices in recruiting patients to trials.
The new SWOG Patient Advocates heard Protocol Manager Dana Sparks, M.A.T., give an overview of the protocol development process. Patient Advocates are assigned to individual Disease Committees and represent the patient’s perspective in reviewing new protocols in development. Serious Adverse Events Manager and Web Manager Nickey McCasland, R.N., M.H.A., also gave Advocates an overview of the development of a patient section for the SWOG Web site.
The Clinical Research Associate (CRA) Open Forum covered much ground, including updates on the new Clinical Trials Support Unit’s (CTSU’s) Oncology Patient Enrollment Network, or OPEN, expected to be available for use later this summer. CRA Chair Sue Majeski, C.C.R.P., also presented on the CRA committee structure.
The Gynecologic Committee heard a proposal for joining a corporate-supported study with AGO, the largest gynecologic oncology study group in Germany.
The Translational Medicine Committee Symposium featured Frank Meyskens Jr., M.D., and Christine Ambrosone, Ph.D., speaking on building bridges between the Cancer Control, Molecular Epidemiology, and Translational Medicine committees and on the goal of integrating prevention research into the fabric of SWOG.
A post-Meeting meeting on SWOG’s Latin America Initiative brought together some of the SWOG leadership with several NCI staff and oncologists from the Society of Latin American and Caribbean Medical Oncology (SLACOM), representing a number of countries in Central and South America.
SWOG is conducting a Gates Foundation-funded trial of several drug treatment approaches to reduce the prevalence of gastric cancers in Latin America by eradicating the bacterium helicobacter pylori.
Meeting attendees discussed possibilities for expanding the international cooperation now taking place as part of the h. pylori trial and about the creation of a clinical trials network that could potentially encompass the entire hemisphere.
Many resources from the Spring Group Meeting are available online:
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