This year I\u2019ve had the great opportunity to attend ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) conference as a Centre for Trials Research representative together with Professor Richard Adams, Director Cancer Division, and Catrin Cox for the presentation of the FAKTION study by the Chief Investigators (CIs), Dr Sacha Howell (University of Manchester and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust) and Dr Rob Jones (Velindre Cancer Centre and Cardiff University).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before departure, Richard had explained: \u201cIt\u2019s a huge conference. Don\u2019t get scared!\u201d. Which was translated in my head: \u201cDon\u2019t get lost! And play the Centre for Trials Research representative role!\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A conference attended by 40,000 people from all\nover the world and taking place in a 2.6 million square feet convention centre\ncan be described as huge\u2026or normal for the American standard. The convention\ncentre was divided into 4 wings: it took me at least 10 minutes to walk from\none wing to another. This forced activity of stretching my legs while moving\nfrom one session to the other has challenged my idea of conference paralysis\ngain from my long-term experience of attending conferences, where the only\nstretching activity is to lift a cup of tea\/coffee while going back home with a\npainful stiff neck for looking at slides from the never-good seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The presentation on how consultants should talk\nto their patients about their cancer and how to offer them the opportunity to\nenter a trial: what words to use and what to avoid, what attitude to have, and\nwhat understanding of the other\u2019s pain should underline every word. This\npresentation made me think of our Participant Information Sheets. We write all\nthe sections that our Centre for Trials Research Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)\nrecommends and we ask our Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) representatives to\nreview it, because this is what our potential funder and Research Ethics\nCommittee (REC) need to see evidenced. But, once it is out with our sites, it is\nthe Principal Investigator (PI) and Research Nurse who explain the Participant\nInformation Sheet (PIS) to the patient as the potential participant of our\ncancer trials. The clearest, simplest word we may have written has to be\ntranslated by professionals with the use of one dictionary: compassion. Do our\nPIS facilitate their communication with cancer patients? Do we use the same\ndictionary?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Women\u2019s Networking Center offered some inspiring talks by women for women in an atmosphere of mutual recognition and complicity. A refreshing break from the lone wolf academic presenter competing with colleagues for a moment of high visibility and glory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, a session on the financial aspects of\nthe trials. Though the talks were based on laws and regulations in US, the case\nof an American woman who travelled to Europe at her own expense for entering a\ntrial and getting access to a drug not available in her country reinforced my\nidea that, in the era of globalisation, trials need to be more inclusive and\nnational-boundary free in opposition to the political agenda of some countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If there is one thing I\u2019ve brought back from this conference is a feeling of urgency. As a fully-registered Clinical Trials Unit (CTU), our role is to facilitate the running of clinical trials, to streamline the often unnecessarily burdensome process, and to support the research ideas of our consultants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I attended the session with the FAKTION presentation by our CI, Dr Sacha Howell. I think that was the main reason why I went there. It took place in the largest hall of the venue \u2026.and it was fully packed. Our CI was superb: calm, clear, concise during the presentation and in answering the audience\u2019s questions. FAKTION is not an easy trial to manage but at the end it is worthy – not just for the results and hope we can give to many women suffering from breast cancer – but for what is behind the scene: an excellent and inspiring teamwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re now working on the publication. Watch this space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n