Australasian International Breast Congress – a preview

Breast cancer

By Mardi Chapman

6 Oct 2022

The Australasian International Breast Congress kicks off in Brisbane next week featuring its trademark debate-heavy program addressing clinical challenges and controversies.

The Congress is a collaboration of the Australasian Society for Breast Disease (ASBD), the 6th World Congress on Controversies in Breast Cancer (CoBrCa) and Breast Surgeons of Australia and New Zealand (BreastSurgANZ).

In a welcome letter to delegates, the convenors said the format of debates, lectures and panel discussions, will “provide a forum to effectively address unresolved clinical and therapeutic problems.”

A national and international multidisciplinary faculty includes experts in medical oncology, surgery and reconstruction, radiation oncology, breast imaging, allied health, survivorship and supportive care

Some of the visiting speakers from the Asia-Pacific region, the US and Europe include:

Professor Stephen Johnson (UK) with Lessons learnt from the UK experience of neo adjuvant endocrine therapy (NAET) during the COVID-19 pandemic. His presentation in the neoadjuvant therapy plenary session is bookmarked by two debates – That cT1cN0 HER2+ve and TNBC should have neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAST) and That LN positive patients achieving pCR with NAST should still receive regional nodal radiotherapy.

Dr Ritse Mann (The Netherlands) will present the The Netherlands experience of tailored screening. The session includes a debate That women at low risk for breast cancer should only be screened every 5 years.

Dr Mark Robson (US) will present in a plenary session on genetics on the topic of Tailored treatments for BRCA+ early breast cancer: The time is now! The session also includes a debate That ~all patients with breast cancer should be panel tested for germline mutations.

Dr Javier Cortes (Spain) and Dr Alistair Ring (UK) will also take the affirmative and negative, respectively, in a debate That immunotherapy should be part of standard of care in neoadjuvant treatment for TN ESBC.

Associate Professor Rebecca Dent (Singapore) will provide her update on the management of brain mets in those with HER2+ve disease while the session debate will attempt to answer the question Do anthracyclines still have a place in the treatment of early stage HER2+ve BC?

The scientific program will conclude with a forward-looking session to 2030 – covering what the near future for breast cancer may look like across early detection, locoregional and systemic therapy and incorporating a pathologist’s viewpoint and a consumer perspective.

The official Congress Opening is preceded by six workshops – breast cancer in young women, contrast based breast imaging, bioethical dilemmas, hereditary breast cancer, radiation oncology clinical update and challenging communication.

The AIBC will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from 13-15 October [link here]. Follow some of action on twitter @thelimbiconc #AIBC and online in our upcoming news.

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