ESMO 2023 and summary of MATRIX-relevant activities
The annual ESMOcongress this year took place in Madrid, Spain, on October 20-24. Many cliniciansand researchers across Norway attended this event, including from MATRIX. TheEuropean Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has more than 34 000 membersacross 170 countries, and the annual conference is an excellent arena to learnmore about news and developments within cancer care, from prevention anddiagnosis to new drugs and treatment options as well as palliative care andpatient follow-up. ESMO is also an important arena to connect with the industryand meet their global representatives, and it is a great opportunity to presentown research either at poster sessions or if given the chance, to give an oralpresentation.
MATRIX-affiliated presentations during ESMO2023
At the ESMO 2023 congress, three MATRIX work package leaders gave oral presentations. MATRIX director Åslaug Helland gave an oral presentation entitled “First survival data from the NIPU trial: A randomised, open-label, phase II study evaluating nivolumab and ipilimumab combined with UV1 vaccination as second-line treatment in patients with malignant mesothelioma” in the mini oral session: Non-metastatic NSCLC and other thoracic malignancies. MATRIX deputy director Stein Kaasa gave the talk “MyPath update and introduction to the JANE network” in the session 8th ESMO Designated Centres of Integrated Oncology and Palliative Care Session and Awards: Approaches to integration of palliative care in oncology services. Finally, work package 5 leader Marianne Hjermstad presented the talk “Anticancer therapy at the end-of-life: A cluster-randomized trial” in the mini oral session: Supportive and palliative care.
In addition, MATRIX-affiliated researchers presented three posters:
213P - Unlocking cancer treatment opportunities by population-based advanced diagnostics in Norway
From abstract summary: “The national infrastructure for precision diagnostics, InPreD, secures competence building and standardised service in CGP testing nationwide, providing new treatment opportunities for cancer patients. Beyond strengthening the ability to identify patients to clinical trials, it serves as a united interaction partner for national stakeholders such as governmental bodies, health authorities and industry”.
The poster was presented by MATRIX WP1 co-leader Hege Russnes, Oslo University Hospital and Randi Hovland, Haukeland University Hospital.
1235P - Enrichment of rare cancers in pragmatic precision cancer medicine trial: Experience from IMPRESS-Norway
From abstract summary: “In our ongoing study, we see a higher number of rare cancers included for screening compared with the estimated number of rare cancers in total (50% versus 22 %). Identification of treatment alternative was comparable between rare and non-rare cancers (19 % versus 20 %). This finding is of special importance for patient groups for whom access to clinical trials is limited due to the rareness of the disease”.
The poster was presented by ÅslaugHelland, Oslo University Hospital.
1611P - Family carers’ experiences with brain metastases: A longitudinal qualitative study
From abstract summary: “Being a family carer of a patient with brain metastases implies extensive practical, emotional and psychosocial challenges. The need for continuous information is particularly high, and health care providers should tailor their information to the individual recipient. Palliative care, with a person-centred approach and systematic follow up of the needs of family carers, should be introducedin an early stage”.
The poster was presented by TonjeLundeby, Oslo University Hospital.
Meetings with industry
ESMO represents an excellent opportunity to promote the entire precision cancer medicine ecosystem in Norway, including MATRIX, to industry partners in order to recruit more drugs to IMPRESS-Norway or other trials and discuss new collaboration opportunities. The MATRIX management team had around 20 fruitful meetings with global representatives from more than ten companies during the conference. In addition, MATRIX attended the business event organized by NorTrials and Innovation Norway at the Embassy of Norway in Spain, where representatives both from the international healthcare industry and the Norwegian healthcare services were present.
International collaboration
MATRIX is involved in three large EU projects: PCM4EU, PRIME-ROSE and MyPath.
PRIME-ROSE, which was launched in July and is led by Kjetil Taskén from the Oslo University Hospital, was also present at ESMO both with posters and with a separate get-together in Madrid. Read more about PRIME-ROSE activities during ESMO.
Furthermore, MATRIX deputy director Stein Kaasa leads MyPath, a large project focusing on development of digital patient-centred care solutions where ESMO is one of fifteen partners. The MyPath coordinating team, Stein Kaasa and Tonje Lundeby, were interviewed about the project by the Norwegian online health newspaper HealthTalk during ESMO (in Norwegian only).
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