Enhancing Quality Through Innovation: American Society of Clinical Oncology Presidential Address 2010

Abstract

Members and guests of the Society, welcome to the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). It has been an honor for me to serve as ASCO president this year and to oversee preparations for this meeting. I am pleased to share with you this year’s accomplishments and my view of the opportunities and challenges ahead. A meeting of this size and quality cannot happen without the skill and leadership of very special people. My sincere thanks go to Kim Margolin, MD, Chair of the Cancer Education Committee, and to Daniel F. Hayes, MD, Chair of the Scientific Program Committee. They and their colleagues have assembled an exciting scientific and educational program. We received more than 5,100 abstract submissions—a new annual meeting record. We will offer 165 education and 89 scientific sessions, and most will be available for review on our virtual meeting site, which has had spectacular growth and acceptance since its inception in 1999. New this year is the “Trials in Progress” poster session. The session will allow investigators leading phase I and phase II trials to present their unfinished work, including their background data, trial design, and methodology. With this new session, we hope to stimulate interest in the therapeutic entities being tested, to stimulate accruals and addition of study sites to ongoing trials, and to draw new investigators into studying promising compounds.