Cynthia L. Sears, MD, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, summarizes her keynote talk on microbes, microbiota, and colon cancer. Next-generation sequencing combined with biologic studies suggests that most colorectal cancer cases have specific microbiome associations.
Cornelis van de Velde, MD, PhD, of Leiden University Medical Center, discusses the International Watch & Wait database, established to track evidence on organ-preserving strategies in patients with rectal cancer (Abstract 521).
Eileen M. O’Reilly, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses a range of topics, including tyrosine kinase inhibitors, immune therapies, targeted approaches, and DNA damage repair strategies.
Karyn A. Goodman, MD, of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, discusses initial study findings on PET scan–directed combined-modality therapy for esophageal cancer (Abstract 1).
Salah-Eddin Al-Batran, MD, of the Institute of Clinical Cancer Research and Nordwest Hospital, discusses study findings on paclitaxel with and without RAD001 in patients with gastric cancer whose disease has progressed after therapy with a fluoropyrimidine/platinum-containing regimen (Abstract 4).
Sarah E. Hoffe, MD, of the Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses the controversial role of radiation in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, recent advances in delivering short courses of high-dose stereotactic body radiation therapy, and how best to integrate this new modality in borderline and locally advanced disease.
