India, Australia, Uruguay. The next 400 participants at the anal cancer research webinar come from all over the world.
05-11-2020
World's first international conference on anal cancer was planned. Several funds supported the project and the programme was in the making. But then the Corona pandemic hit. In compensation, a smaller webinar was held Thursday, where more than 350 researchers and clinicians from 30 countries participated online.
Annually, merely 150 new anal cancer cases are diagnosed, but the incidence increases. Anal cancer screening, treatment and follow-up are all complex, multidisciplinary challenges. Thus, international research collaboration and exchange of experience is highly needed.
"Anal cancer is a rare disease. Thus many medical doctors stand single-handedly and cannot research, as there are too few patients, time or lack of other resources. One doctor cannot lift the challenge by him/herself, so the international collaboration is crucial for improving research and better the treatments on anal cancer", explains Karen-Lise Garm Spindler, head of Danish Anal Cancer Group (DACG), consultant and professor at Aarhus University Hospital.
Therefore, Danish Anal Cancer Group and Nordic Anal Cancer Network decided to arrange world's first international meeting for researcher and clinicians. Just two years ago, the same organisers held the first Nordic Multidisciplinary Anal Symposium, which was a great success, with 60 research and oncologists attending.
The number of participating countries was supposed to expand this year. The event would be international. Ambitions were vast. But as so many other events, the Corona pandemic put a halt to the big plans and event. It had to be cancelled and substituted with a webinar.
"We were not at all keen on cancelling the physical meeting, but we had no chose. And I think, we got the best out of the situation by arranging a web-based meeting instead", says Karen-Lise Garm Spindler.
Lays groundwork for success in 2021
Karen-Lise Garm Spindler hopes that the large attendance at the webinar means a lot more researchers and clinicians at the physical conference next year. Photo: Lars Kruse, AU Photo.
When Karen-Lise Garm Spindler states, that the organisers got the best possible outcome from the situation, it is a statement filled with modesty. That is, the webinar was essentially arranged "to keep the pot boiling" but striking 350 oncologists and clinicians participated in the webinar.
So saying, the path to success is carved for the first international conference on anal cancer, International Multidisciplinary Anal Cancer Conference (IMACC), hosted in Aarhus, Denmark, on November, 11—12, 2021.
"As the event is the first of its kind, the participation is of course uncertain, but as it is possible to attend from home – e.g. from Georgia or India – and participate online, it probably also influences the partaking" says Karen-Lise Garm Spindler.
And the online-success should be converted into success at the physical conference in the year to come.
"When people have experienced our good and academically relevant programme, I believe that that will get more people to actually take the trip to Aarhus and participate psychically next year. Professional deliberation just work better in psychical surroundings – and so, hopefully, a lot of medical doctors, physicists and researchers will attend next year".
See the webinar programme here
International conference on anal cancer in 2021
The first International Multidisciplinary Anal Cancer Conference (IMACC) is hosted in Aarhus. Read more about it, click here.