Full program and registration information can be found here.

Breakout sessions

Breakout sessions will be offered that focus on three different “tracks”: 1) identifying, preventing and managing comorbidities and treatment-related complications; 2) lifestyle recommendations for the prevention of chronic disease among cancer survivors; and 3) psychosocial, spirituality and relationship issues after cancer treatment. 

Track 1:  Identifying, Preventing and Managing Co-morbidities and Treatment-Related Complications

This track will introduce participants to both the health and health-system issues faced by cancer survivors after treatment.  While cancer is often viewed as a single disease, it is actually many different diseases, with each type of cancer having its own risk factors, mechanism of growth, and response to treatment.  Similarly, complications of cancer and its treatment will vary by cancer type, as well as characteristics of the individual cancer survivor.  This session will review the common patterns of disease- and treatment-related patterns of comorbidities and complications following cancer treatment, and present a risk-based approach to predicting treatment-related complications as the basis for developing personalized survivorship care plans. 

Track 2:  Lifestyle Recommendations for Cancer Survivors

Because of the advances in the detection and treatment of cancer, many cancer survivors can expect to live for decades beyond their initial diagnosis.  However, survivors are at risk for cancer recurrence, ongoing physiological effects of both cancer and its treatment, and late effects that may occur years after treatment has ended.   Although different forms of cancer may bring differing constellations of long-term consequences, there are common side-effects and symptoms that can be both recognized by health-care providers and potentially prevented.  Common late-effects of cancer treatments include cardiovascular disease, endocrine disorders, diabetes, and osteopenia (22, 23). Some of these conditions could be prevented or mitigated by lifestyle interventions such as regular physical exercise, dietary changes, and behavior modification.  This section of the programming will focus on health behavior modifications and rehabilitation to reduce the impact of cancer and its treatment on survivors.

Track 3:  Psychosocial, Spirituality and Relationship Issues among Cancer Survivors

In its 2007 report, Cancer Care for the Whole Patient, the IOM called on the healthcare community to do a better job of addressing the psychological, social, economic, and spiritual concerns of its cancer patients (31).  This conference track will educate healthcare providers about the psychosocial issues affecting their cancer patients, and to connect providers with resources, organizations, and individuals in the community who can assist them in helping their patients manage these aspects of their illness.

Keynote Speakers

Patricia Ganz, MD, is Professor of Health Services in the School of Public Health, Professor of Medicine in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and Vice Chair of the Department of Health Services. Dr. Ganz received her M.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine, and completed post-doctoral training in internal medicine and medical oncology at the UCLA Medical Center. Dr. Ganz has devoted the past 25 years to the study of QOL outcomes in cancer, and is a leader in the integration of QOL assessment in clinical trials. Her current research focuses on the late effects of cancer treatment, and improving the quality of care for cancer survivors. In 2006, she received funding from the Lance Armstrong Foundation to establish the UCLA-LIVESTRONG Survivorship Center of Excellence, whose mission is to facilitate improvements in the QOL and quality of care of cancer survivors in the Los Angeles region and wherever they may reside.  Dr. Ganz is also the Director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control Research of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA. Dr. Ganz is Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and is a member of the editorial board of the Cochrane Breast Cancer Group. In 1999 she was named an American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor, and in 2007 she became a member of the Institute of Medicine.

Jon Hallberg, MD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Minnesota.  He is also the co-founder and creative director of the University’s Center for Arts and Medicine and is medical director of the new Mill City Clinic.  He has practiced in a variety of clinic settings for seventeen years, and is consistently listed as a “Top Doctor” in family medicine according to Mpls/St Paul Magazine.  Dr. Hallberg has served as the regular health and medical analyst for the regional “All Things Considered” on Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), where he has made over 200 appearances to date.  He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Minnesota Medical Association Physician Communicator Award, the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health Faculty Teacher of the Year Award, and the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, sponsored by the Gold Foundation.