Ipsen Traniee Travel Award
$3,500 for one Advanced Trainee in medical oncology to attend a European meeting
Award Recipient
Dr Yu Jo Chua
The winner of the MOGA-IPSEN Trainee Travel Award 2008 is Dr Yu Jo Chua who will use the award to attend the 33rd European Society of Medical Oncology Congress to be held in Stockholm, Sweden in September where an abstract he has co-authored has been submitted: Price TJ, Gebski V,van Hazel G, Robinson B, Broad A, Ganju V, Chua YJ, Wilson K, Tunney V, Tebbutt N. Safety analysis of an international multi-centre randomized phase II/III trial of capecitabine (Cap), bevacizumab (Bev) and mitomycin C (MMC) in metastatic cancer (mCRC): AGITG MAX Trial. Dr Chua is a final year advanced trainee in medical oncology at The Canberra Hospital in the ACT and is currently completing his doctoral research program at the University of Melbourne.
Previous Award Recipient
Dr Fiona Chionh
At the end of the Avenida Diagonal in Barcelona, set against a backdrop of the stunning blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea and pristine golden sands spotted with small beach cafés (each with their own obligatory outdoor DJs and adjacent tanned sunbakers), lay the imposing Centre Convencions Internacional Barcelona. This was to be my daily destination for the five days of the ECCO 14 European Cancer Conference in September, 2007.
The sessions which I found to be particularly thorough and informative included the educational symposia on the adjuvant treatment of Stage II and III colon cancer and the management of central nervous system complications of cancer (which included lectures on the role of intrathecal chemotherapy in leptomeningeal metastases in solid tumours and the management of metastatic epidural spinal cord compression), as well as a teaching lecture which provided a concise update on adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer.
However, the highlight of my week was the highly entertaining and charged Oxford-style debate on whether intraperitoneal chemotherapy should be standard of care for first-line treatment in epithelial ovarian cancer. The audience was provided with opportunities at various times during the debate to express whether they were ‘for’ or ‘against’ the use of intraperitoneal chemotherapy as first-line in this setting; at the conclusion of the debate, it appeared that most of the audience were not in favour.
Throughout the week, there were also wonderful opportunities to see the breadth of European oncological research presented and to be able to discuss the details of the research with their presenters.
I found ECCO 14 to be a truly invaluable experience and would like to thank MOGA and IPSEN for assisting with my attendance.
--Dr Fiona Chionh
