Personalized Integrative Oncology: Targeted Approaches for Optimal Outcomes

Abstract

The 11th International Conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) brought together more than 300 clinicians, researchers, patients, and advocates to hear and interact with world-leading experts about the latest research in the areas of nutrition, exercise, acupuncture, health services research, meditation, and other integrative disciplines. The conference theme, “Personalized Integrative Oncology: Targeted Approaches for Optimal Outcomes,” highlighted innovations in personalized medicine and ways this growing field will advance the evolution of individualized integrative cancer care to the next level. This year’s conference also featured a clinical track focusing on clinical information for the practicing health care professional. The conference’s rigorous schedule included 3 keynotes, 4 plenary sessions, 2 interdisciplinary tumor boards, 5 workshops, 45 concurrent oral sessions, and 106 posters. In addition to the conference theme, keynote and plenary sessions presented topics on stress and cancer, the importance of sleep for cancer patients, epigenetic mechanisms of lifestyle and natural products, recently published Journal of the National Cancer Institute monograph on integrative oncology, SIO’s clinical practice guidelines for breast cancer survivors, and a joint session of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and SIO about supportive care and symptom management. This highly successful conference helped further the mission of the SIO to advance evidence-based, comprehensive, integrative health care to improve the lives of people affected by cancer.

Conference Co-Chairs: Richard T. Lee, MD, and Peiying Yang, PhD

In October 2014, more than 300 researchers, clinicians, patient advocates, patients, and trainees from around the world, representing 17 countries, joined together at the Omni Galleria Hotel in Houston, Texas, for the 11th International Conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO). This conference was held to examine the growing evidence base for complementary therapies and practices currently being used in integrative oncology and the rapid translation of that literature into standard of care and best practice guidelines. The conference theme, “Personalized Integrative Oncology: Targeted Approaches for Optimal Outcomes,” encouraged conference attendees to consider how evidence of the efficacy of integrative therapies for cancer prevention, treatment, and control can be targeted to meet the individualized needs of each patient, helping improve survival and the quality of life of people affected by cancer. The conference’s rigorous schedule included 3 keynotes, 4 plenary sessions, 2 interdisciplinary tumor boards, 5 workshops, 45 concurrent oral sessions, and 106 posters, with the 10 top scoring abstracts published with this article. For the first time ever, the SIO conference featured a clinical track designed to expose practicing clinicians to cutting-edge research about complementary therapies and provide them with practical “take home” information for integrating evidence-based complementary therapies into their clinical practice. Also notable, the conference hosted 5 patient advocate scholars and 3 research trainees from the United States, Australia, and Canada, which was made possible through an R13 grant sponsored by the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute (NCI), Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM). These scholars were highly engaged in the conference and contributed not only new ideas drawn from their extensive experience as patient advocates who work closely with people living with cancer, their friends, and their families, but also enthusiasm for the promise offered by integrative oncology. Conference programming was designed to bring these 2 unique and passionate groups together to encourage a growing role of patients in integrative oncology research.

Keynote addresses were presented by the pioneering oncologist in targeted therapies, John Mendelsohn, MD (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center), leading stress researcher, Sonia Lupien, PhD (Fernand-Seguin Research Centre of Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, University of Montreal), and Sonia Ancoli-Israel, PhD (University of California, San Diego School of Medicine), who provided an overview of the impact of sleep and circadian rhythms in cancer patients.

In addition to Dr Mendelsohn’s keynote address, the conference’s theme of personalized and targeted therapy was further explored in both plenary and workshop sessions. At the first plenary session on “Personalized Integrative Oncology,” Patrick Hwu, MD (The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center), and Maurie Markman, MD (Cancer Treatment Centers of America), discussed how both current and future targeted cancer treatments could be individualized to help optimize cancer patients’ quality of life, while at the same time minimizing treatment-related side-effects through innovative immunotherapies and clinical research. A workshop led by Elena J. Ladas, PhD, RD (Columbia University Medical Center), focused on how to develop and discuss personalized integrative treatment strategies for cancer patients, survivors, and their families. A plenary session moderated by Richard Boland, MD (Baylor University Medical Center), featured presentations by Jean-Pierre Issa, MD (Temple University), and Roderick Dashwood, PhD (Texas A&M Health Science Center), on the impact of lifestyle and natural health products on epigenetic mechanisms and the impact of these mechanisms on cancer development. These presentations emphasized how individualized lifestyle choices could have a significant impact on future cancer prevention strategies. The Conference’s clinical track focused on how to understand and use the integrative oncology evidence base to create individualized treatments for cancer patients and survivors. Richard T. Lee, MD (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center), was joined by Weidong Lu, MD, PhD, MPH (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute), and Catherine Power-James, PhD (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center), to review the clinical trials published in the last year in integrative oncology with a focus on how to incorporate the results into clinical practice. Two multidisciplinary integrative tumor boards focused on cancer cases that illustrated how to formulate, implement, and monitor an evidence-based and personalized integrative treatment plan.

Continuing SIO’s desire to foster collaborative bridges between organizations with similar goals, a joint plenary session was presented by SIO and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM; www.aahpm.org). This session featured presentations on the definition of palliative care and its role in supportive care and symptom management (Christine Ritchie, MD, MSPH, University of California San Francisco); an overview of pharmacological and nonpharmacological management of cancer symptoms (Suresh Reddy, MD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center); and a discussion of common mechanisms, phases, and assessments of cancer symptoms (Shalini Dahal, MD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center). This joint plenary session will help foster future collaborations between SIO and AAHPM that will lead to projects aimed at improving the lives of cancer patients.

A third plenary focused on highlights of articles published in a special issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) Monograph (http://jncimono.oxfordjournals.org/content/2014/50.toc), which focused on integrative oncology in cancer survivorship and included commentaries from key stakeholders, including the National Cancer Institute, NCCAM, the American Cancer Society, SIO, the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine, and patients. In this symposium, guest editors for the monograph, Jun Mao, MD (Abramson Cancer Center at University of Pennsylvania), and Lorenzo Cohen, PhD (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center), provided an overview of studies contained in the monograph, including studies focused on tailoring a mind–body intervention in breast cancer survivors (Carlson et al ¹ ), the role of expectancy in the effectiveness of both verum and sham electroacupuncture (Bauml et al ² ), and effects of integrative medicine on pain and anxiety among a large cohort of oncology inpatients (Johnson et al ³ ). On behalf of the SIO’s Clinical Guidelines Working Group, Heather Greenlee, ND, PhD (Columbia University), and Debu Tripathy, MD (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center), presented the first ever published clinical practice guidelines on the use of integrative therapies for breast cancer survivors, which were developed using a systematic review process set forth by the Institutes of Medicine (Greenlee et al ⁴ ). These new guidelines promise to be an invaluable resource for clinicians struggling with questions from patients and families regarding the efficacy and safety of complementary therapies following a breast cancer diagnosis.

Next year, the SIO’s 12th International Conference will be held in Boston, Massachusetts, from November 14 to 16, 2015. The conference theme will be “Integrated Innovation.” The conference will be chaired by Patricia Arcari, PhD, RN (Dana Farber Cancer Institute), and Gary Deng, MD, PhD (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute). For the first time, SIO will be joining the Society for Acupuncture Research (SAR; www.acupunctureresearch.org) and the Fascia Research Society (FRS; https://fasciaresearchsociety.org) to create a joint research day. This day will explore the unique intersection of oncology, Oriental medicine, and fascia research on the first day of the 12th International Conference of the SIO (November 14, 2015) at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School. This conference is anticipated to attract registrants from across North America, Europe, and Asia and will provide an unparalleled opportunity for collaboration and knowledge exchange in the field of integrative oncology.