Colorectal Cancer Conference

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to London, to the European School of Oncology’s third Colorectal Cancer Conference. The two previous conferences – in London and Rome - were enormously successful; the international faculty of each was second to none, and each attracted senior specialists from 40 countries on all continents – except Antarctica! We are confident that this conference will be of the same high quality, and will attract as wide a body of attenders.

Though bowel cancer is so common in many parts of the world, and fast increasing in others, most people in our home countries are hardly aware of it. Our responsibility as active workers in this field includes several important strands - not only increasing our understanding of the disease, and improving our care for sufferers, but also making the populace properly aware of the disease, and what we can all do to help ourselves.

If you scan the programme you will see that it is very ‘issue-based’, crossing the divides between specialist disciplines to provide symposia relevant to all working on this common disease.

Understanding the disease, and using this knowledge to minimise risks, both environmental and genetic, constitutes a central and expanding priority. Our knowledge of the genetics and genomics of bowel cancer has grown by leaps and bounds, so that each year there are new and surprising aspects for presentation.

Screening is a hot issue, with its economic, social and logistic implications. While the potential effects of some modalities are quite well understood, alternatives continue to be sought and investigated. We have put together a very comprehensive and authoritative panel to discuss these issues.

These past ten years have seen real advances in ‘best practice’ of rectal cancer care. More precise pre-operative investigations are allowing better choices from the widening range of modalities available. More rational combinations of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are emerging from well conducted RCTs. How we cope with ‘disasters’ in treatment may provoke experienced discussion. How we might use microarrays and other modalities of molecular pathology to avoid over-treatment while targeting those at real risk must be a high priority for us all.

Making sure that health professionals understand what it is like to be a patient; how priorities are set by politicians, managers and research strategists; how we apply the special contributions that nurses can make – all these areas will be covered.

The rapid evolution of all these issues around bowel cancer is unpredictable; I hope you will find that we cover the contemporary scene well. I am convinced that you will enjoy a stimulating and constructive discussion of today’s practicalities and tomorrow’s possibilities.

So, welcome to London.
We know you will enjoy your stay.

John Northover

VENUE
London Hilton Metropole
225 Edgware Road - London - W2 1JU - UK
Tel: +44 20 7402 4141 - Fax: +44 20 7724 8866

ORGANISING SECRETARIAT
Daniela Mengato - Francesca Marangoni
European School of Oncology
V.le Beatrice D’Este, 37
20122 Milan - Italy
Tel: +39 02 8546451 - Fax: +39 02 85464545
E-mail: conferences@esoncology.org

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
The official language of the course will be English.

CERTIFICATES
All participants will be issued with a certificate of attendance at the close of the conference and will also be entitled to CME credits.

BADGE
The badge is the only official evidence of registration and should be worn at all times during the conference.

INSURANCE
The organisers bear no responsibility for untoward events in connection with, before, during and after the conference. Participants are strongly advised to take out their own personal and travel insurance coverage.

IMPORTANT DEADLINES
21 October 2005: accommodation deadline
13 November 2005: registration deadline (after this date, registration will only be available on-site).

POSTER ABSTRACT DEADLINE 3 OCTOBER 2005
You may submit your abstract to the Organising Secretariat:
• By e-mail to conferences@esoncology.org
• By CD-ROM to The European School of Oncology - Viale Beatrice d’Este 37, 20122 Milan, Italy

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
• Participants with new data relevant to the subject of the conference may submit one abstract to be considered for poster presentation. Only papers whose abstracts have been reviewed and approved by the conference co-ordinator will be presented.
• Abstracts should be written in English and the text should not exceed 2000 characters (title included).
• The title should appear in CAPITAL LETTERS.
• For each author, type the surname first, followed by first name and initials (presenting author in capital letters).
• List affiliations after the authors’ list.
• Indicate 3-5 keywords at the end of the text.
• The full address with telephone, fax number and e-mail of the corresponding author must be provided. This author will receive all the subsequent communication concerning this abstract.
Please also indicate your approval for publication in case the abstracts are issued in a journal.

Please activity_note: Only abstracts submitted by registered participants will be accepted. Please do not forget to mark on the registration form that you have submitted an abstract.
It is the responsibility of the presenting author to ascertain whether all authors are aware of the content of the abstract before submission.