NCCN to Hold 18th Annual Conference: Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist Joins Panel to Discuss Rising Cost of Cancer Care; New Guidelines Presented


FORT WASHINGTON, Pa., March 11, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NCCN 18th Annual Conference: Advancing the Standard of Cancer Care™ will take place on March 13-17, 2013 at The Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Florida. This year's conference features two roundtable discussions; new NCCN Guidelines® for Survivorship will be presented.

FORT WASHINGTON, Pa. — The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) will hold the NCCN 18th Annual Conference: Advancing the Standard of Cancer Care™, March 13-17, 2013, at The Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Florida. Approximately 1,500 physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other oncology professionals and representatives of the business sector are expected to attend.

"Once again, NCCN has brought together an esteemed group of experts in oncology for the 18th Annual Conference," said Robert W. Carlson, MD, CEO, NCCN. "With events such as the expert roundtables, this year's conference promises to address pertinent topics in health care and oncology practice today. In addition, NCCN will be presenting a number of advancements from the last year, including new NCCN Guidelines for Survivorship and Penile Cancer, and new tools such as the NCCN Biomarkers Compendium."

This year's conference will commence with opening remarks from Dr. Carlson, followed by a keynote address from Amanda Bennett, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Executive Editor, Bloomberg News, and author of The Cost of Hope: A Memoir.

Two roundtables will be featured at the conference. The first roundtable, titled, The Cost of Hope: A Candid Roundtable Discussion, will be moderated by Sam Donaldson, ABC News veteran and anchor. Ms. Bennett will join an expert panel of physicians for a candid conversation about her late husband, Terence Foley, his battle with kidney cancer, and the costs incurred. In addition to Ms. Bennett, the panelists will include Ronald M. Bukowski, MD, Bukowski Consulting, LLC; Keith Flaherty, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center; J. Cameron Muir, MD, Executive Vice President, Quality & Access, Capital Caring and Assistant Professor of Oncology, Johns Hopkins Medicine; and Craig D. Turner, MD, Urologic Consultants, PC. Most of the panel members were directly involved with Mr. Foley's care.

The second roundtable discussion, scheduled for Friday, March 15, 2013, The Changing Oncology Landscape: Evolution or Revolution?, will be moderated by Clifford Goodman, PhD, The Lewin Group. The panelists for the second roundtable will include Roy Beveridge, MD, Chief Medical Officer, McKesson Specialty Health; John Fox, MD, MHA, Associate Vice President of Medical Affairs, Priority Health; Susan A. Higgins, MD, MS, Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Yale University School of Medicine; Martin Kohn, MD, MS, Chief Medical Scientist, Care Delivery Systems, IBM Research; John J. "Jack" Mahoney, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, Florida Health Care Coalition; Lee N. Newcomer, MD, MHA, Senior Vice President, Oncology, Genetics and Women's Health, UnitedHealthcare; Kavita Patel, MD, MSHS, Managing Director for Clinical Transformation and Delivery, The Brookings Institution Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform; and Andrew von Eschenbach, MD, President, Samaritan Health Initiatives.

The expert panel will discuss the ever-evolving oncology landscape, as it pertains to the impact of health reform, the shift in the site of oncology care, the alignment of payer and employer initiatives, and the role of pathways and technology.

The 2013 conference will feature sessions on the latest addition to the library of NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®): Survivorship. In addition, the conference will feature more than 10 presentations and breakout sessions focused on advancements in treatment of various diseases including, but not limited to, Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Melanoma, Multiple Myeloma, and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, as well as Bone, Colorectal, Ovarian, Penile, Prostate, Renal Cell, and Thyroid Cancers.

The NCCN Guidelines are developed and updated through an evidence-based process in which the expert panels integrate comprehensive clinical and scientific data with the judgment of the multidisciplinary panel members and other experts drawn from NCCN Member Institutions. Access to the complete library of NCCN Guidelines is available free-of-charge to clinicians at NCCN.org.

The full conference agenda is available at NCCN.org. Press inquiries and requests for interview should be addressed to Katie Kiley Brown at brown@nccn.org.

About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®), a not-for-profit alliance of 21 of the world's leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education, is dedicated to improving the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of cancer care so that patients can live better lives. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. As the arbiter of high-quality, high-value cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers. The primary goal of all NCCN initiatives is to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of oncology practice so patients can live better lives.

The NCCN Member Institutions are: City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA; Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center | Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA; Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, NC; Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA; Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle, WA; The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY; Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL; The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Columbus, OH; Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY; Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; St. Jude Children's Research Hospital/The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN; Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford, CA; University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, Birmingham, AL; UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA; University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI; UNMC Eppley Cancer Center at The Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE; The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN.

Clinicians, visit NCCN.org. Patients and caregivers, visit NCCN.com.

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