NETS conference hailed as
a success
October 2, 2007
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Speaking just prior to the
conference's opening session are,
from left, Aaron Vinik, M.D., Ph.D., Dean
Gerald Pepe, faculty presenter
Edward George, M.D., and EVMS
President Harry Lester. |
NORFOLK—The conference poured the foundation; now it’s time to
build on it, says Aaron Vinik, M.D., Ph.D.
The first annual North American Carcinoid-Neuroendocrine Tumors (NETS)
Conference took place in Norfolk Sept. 28-30. It was the first time EVMS
hosted an international conference, and the first one on NETS that
brought patients and health-care providers together to share experiences
and ideas.
NETS are rare, slow-growing masses that form in the neuroendocrine
system, which is a network of cells that are a cross between
hormone-producing endocrine cells and nerve cells. Diagnosis of these
tumors can be tricky to diagnose because the hormones they secrete can
cause symptoms associated with other conditions. Only 50,000 people in
the U.S. have been diagnosed as having NETS, with 3,000 to 5,000 more
found each year.
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Dr.
Vinik moderated a panel discussion
Thursday afternoon entitled “The
Keys to a True Working Patient and
Physician Team” that featured eight
physicians explaining their method
of treating NETS. |
Vinik, professor of internal medicine, director of research at the EVMS
Strelitz Diabetes Institutes and noted NETS expert, said the busy event
—at one point there were 11 lectures going at the same time—was a
complete success. He said the crowd of doctors and patients on hand at
the end easily outnumbered the 492 who had pre-registered.
“It got bigger and bigger,” he said. “At the Saturday evening
conference, there were more than 500 people there.”
The format was unique in that the patients in large part steered the
agenda. A needs assessment involving about 4,000 NETS patients was
carried out in the event’s planning stages, giving organizers a
framework to start the programs at a higher level.
“We designed a program that the patients asked for,” Vinik said, adding
that his patients, more so than many others, network with each other and
have become fluent in the language of their disease.
“Of all the patient populations we treat, this was the best informed.
You start with the bar raised very high for the people that speak to
them,” he said.
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EVMS Internal Medicine Division
Chief David Johnson, M.D., (second
from left) answers a question during
the panel discussion as (from left)
Richard Sokol, M.D.; Harlan Vingan,
M.D., associate professor of
radiology; and Edward George, M.D.,
associate professor of internal
medicine, listen in. |
The conference essentially had two components: the first fulfilled
Continuing Medical Education requirements for the physicians, and the second dealt
directly with the patients. Both elements operated under the theme of
coming together to discuss the state of treatment of this rare,
slow-growing tumor and how it can be improved.
“It’s more than sharing,” Vinik said. “It’s taking things to the next
level. … We had this conference designed around how to enhance the life
of the patients, including the quality of life.”
Traditional treatment for NETS hinges largely on chemoembolization, a
method where a catheter is used to deliver chemotherapy to the tumor.
But several presentations at the conference focused on the use of
radioactive analogs and other means of delivering radiation as a more
effective way to target the tumors while limiting damage to surrounding
healthy tissue.
Forty-three faculty from around the world, including more than a dozen
from EVMS, made presentations, and Vinik said cooperation from Sentara
Healthcare, whose cardiologists participated, and numerous EVMS
departments—such as radiation oncology, surgery and gastroenterology—was an essential part of making the event worthwhile and enriching the
exchange of ideas.
“We’ve been more or less at a standstill with these things for a time.
…Traditional therapy has failed,” Vinik said. “This is a condition that
needs a multidisciplinary re-approach, and we proved we have the
expertise right here to do that.”
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