It was a great honour to play host to the 6th annual Asia Pacific Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (APNETs) meeting in Melbourne in November at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre (9th – 11th). APNETs, founded in 2013 by a group of healthcare professionals who recognized the need for the creation of a regional society dedicated to enhancing the care of patients with neuroendocrine tumours.
With close to 200 registrants representing over 19 countries, APNETS 2018 will go a long way in spreading and integrating NET research amongst the Asia-Pacific Region and beyond.
This year’s scientific program brought together experts from around the world in all disciplines of NET patient care, who presented the most up to date research, clinical trials, guidelines, treatment options and diagnostics. It was unique that every one of the invited speakers accepted the invitation, and The Unicorn Foundation is so grateful to the experts who shared their knowledge over the three days, finishing with the patient symposium. It was a real pleasure and honour to have leading experts including Prof Dermot O’Toole the Chair of the European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (ENETs), the President of APNETs Dr Harjit Singh, Dr Anita Borges (India), Dr Ben Lawrence (New Zealand), Prof James Yao (USA), Prof Halfden Sorbye (Norway), Prof Anthony Gill AM (Australia) and Dr Simona Glasberg (Israel), to name but a few. Below is a snapshot of the program with more details on what was presented to be found on the Unicorn Foundation Australia website.
Simone Leyden presented an oral presentation as part of the “What Patients Want To Know” – Unmet needs in the global NETs community: an assessment of major gaps from the perspectives of patients, patient advocates and NET health professionals. This was really well received by the audience of health care professionals and sparked discussions that continued throughout the meeting.
World NET Cancer Day on Saturday November 10 (the second day of the meeting) started with an early walk, “NETwalk”. It was great to see so many of the attendees of APNETs as well as patients and families join in for a leisurely walk around Melbourne, a great way to start day two and World NET cancer Day.
Special thanks to Prof Rod Hicks and Dr Grace Kong of Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, who did an exemplary job with the scientific program.
APNETs above all, was an incredible opportunity to network, share ideas and motivate as we all strive to improve NET patient outcomes. We look forward to the many projects inspired by the meeting and working together further in the future.
Day One – Why Should I Suspect NETs?
Prof James Yao (MD Anderson Cancer Centre, United States)
An update on the evolving epidemiology, biology and prognosis of neuroendocrine neoplasms
Dr Simona Glasberg (Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Centre, Israel)
Endocrine Features of NETs
Day One – Diagnosis of NETs
Prof Michael Hofman (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia)
Molecular imaging in diagnosis and treatment planning
Day One – What patients want to know?
Prof Michael Jefford (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia)
Survivorship considerations for people with NETs
Dr Erin Kennedy (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia)
Nutritional aspects, including short gut syndrome
