[quote_box_center]The 18th ECCO – 40th ESMO European Cancer Congress (ECC2015) will be held during the period from 25th to 29th September 2015 in Messe Wien, Exhibition & Congress Centre, Vienna, Austria. This is the largest event in Europe in 2015 to present new data and ground-breaking information to oncology professionals.[/quote_box_center]

At this year’s European Cancer Congress, topics will cover a wide range, from basic and translational cancer research through to the very latest results from phase III clinical trials.

The scientific co-chairs of the meeting, Peter Naredi and Elisabeth de Vries, give us a preview of some of the themes, tracks or sessions that they are particularly excited about.

[quote_box_right]The European Cancer Congress (ECC 2015) is a biennial congress which combines the efforts of the most important European oncology professionals with the aim of improving the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care of cancer patients.[/quote_box_right]

“Most exciting for me is that this is a true multidisciplinary European congress. All disciplines will find that there is an excellent programme for them. It’s not a congress for just one, two or three disciplines, but for many different professions.” – says Peter Naredi.

And Elisabeth de Vries agrees. “For anyone involved in cancer care, this is a really nice meeting because it gives you this extremely broad perspective; there are experts from everywhere and from all different backgrounds. There are some new tracks and there will be presentations and interactions in your own field of interest”.

“In addition, there will be a lot of new data presented, much of which will be especially interesting for medical oncologists as there are so many changes in treatment occurring at the moment, for example, with the immunotherapies that are becoming available.”

As co-chairs, Peter Naredi and Elisabeth de Vries had several different things in mind as they constructed the programme, together with the chairs of the individual tracks.

Key requirements were top quality science, a good balance between ages, countries and gender and a focus on integration.

[quote_box_left]The expected number of participants is above 18,000.[/quote_box_left]

“Integration means that we have discussed what are the most interesting topics and how do we make them attractive to people from more than just one or two disciplines,” says Peter.

“It’s a reflection of our daily cancer care, because cancer care in Europe is becoming multidisciplinary in diagnostics, in decision-making and also in treatments, and this is reflected in the programme for this, the largest European cancer congress,” he says.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is a theme that will be running through several different sessions as well as having its own track.

“We think this will be important in the congress,” says Elisabeth.

She highlights the talk in the opening session on Saturday on “Immunotherapy, past, present and future”, by Caroline Robert, from the Institut Gustave-Roussy.

Young oncologists

For young oncologists in Europe this is a “must attend” conference. “Young oncologists are a real presence in the congress as a whole.

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Why Vienna?

Vienna is a natural host of ECC2015. Its track record as a leader in medical thought and practice speaks for itself. It has made its mark in key areas like radiotherapy, clinical diagnosis and public health to name a few.

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Not only do they have their own track but we expect to see them as presenters elsewhere,” says Elisabeth.
Sessions that will be particularly useful include mentoring, avoiding burnout and cancer training and career planning, and opportunities for young oncologists in Europe.

“The idea behind this is that people like to get experience in other countries, and they like exchanges, but they need help with how they should organise it, with whom should they be in touch and what to expect,” she says.