By Toh Yi Long, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Now in its fifth year running, the ESMO Asia Congress was held at the Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre, Singapore this year. Like the sunny weather, the opening ceremony started off brightly with a cultural dance performance, introducing guests to the sights and sounds from the four official races. This was followed by a welcome address by ESMO President Josep Tabernero. In the keynote lecture by Dr Elisabete Weiderpass, a need to raise awareness was emphasized, given that Asia-Pacific region is expected to bear half of the projected global cancer burden and prevention was advocated to be the most cost-effective long-term strategy to control cancer.

This year, there was strong support garnered from oncology associations in the region, with more than 3500 medical professionals from the Asia-Pacific region and 20 endorsing national oncology societies that participated in the conference. This clearly helped to facilitate opportunities for international networking and collaboration.

Sharing my experience from attending the conference, I enjoyed attending the colloquia that were organized – these are sessions which aim to bring together experts to discuss areas/themes of interest to the oncology community. One of the recurring themes this year was the use of biomarkers, how PD-L1 expression may inform treatment decisions in non-small cell lung cancer and how circulating tumor DNA/tumor cells may be used as liquid biopsies for the management of solid tumors. Clinical experts shared recent trial data and their experience on how to best use biomarkers in patient selection, to select mechanisms of resistance before or at progression, and to monitor treatment efficacy. The promise of precision oncology seems to be well on its way of being delivered, as technology such as next-generation sequencing has helped with access to timely and comprehensive genomic cancer profiles.

Much like the multi-culturalism Singapore is well-known for, ESMO Asia certainly has lots to offer in terms of variety and knowledge for anyone interested in oncology practice.
 

The Opening Ceremony

Opening address by ESMO President

Toh Yi Long and his research team at ESMO Asia