Under licensure from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), in collaboration with the Lebanese Society of Medical Oncology (LSMO), Arab Medical Association Against Cancer (AMAAC), and Emirates Oncology Society (EOS), held the 17th annual Best of ASCO Lebanon meeting in Beirut, on July 7-8, 2022, in a virtual format.
Best of ASCO Lebanon included world-renowned speakers from the U.S., Europe, Arab countries, and Lebanon, in addition to presenters from Chicago Annual Meeting, and showcased the most important abstracts presented in Chicago at the ASCO Annual Meeting in June 2022. The meeting was attended by 309 attendees from all over the world and was a great opportunity for physicians to discuss the most significant and practice changing research presentations in all aspects and subspecialties of oncology.
At the Opening Ceremony, AMAAC President Sami Khatib, LSMO President Roger Khater, EOS President Humaid Al-Shamsi, Director of the Naef K. Basile Cancer Center Ali Taher, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at AUB Raymond Sawaya, and AUB President Fadlo R. Khuri all emphasized the importance of the Best of ASCO meeting. They all highlighted the dedication of AUB and Scientific Arab Societies for post-graduate education and Continuing Medical Education (CME) in Lebanon and the region in order to ensure better patient care and support research. Lebanese Order of Physicians (LOP) President Youssef Bakhash emphasized the role of LOP in medical education and patient care and pointed to the rights of physicians for better working conditions, compensation, and retirement plans.
Dr. Nagi El Saghir, head of the Division of Hematology Oncology at AUBMC and chair of Best of ASCO meeting, thanked all speakers and attendees for all their efforts and expertise to improve care of cancer patients in Lebanon, the region, and worldwide. He also pointed to shortages of cancer medicines because of the current financial collapse in Lebanon and hoped for urgent solutions.
The ASCO Annual Meeting allows physicians to attend and learn about major advances in all fields of oncology. Early-career oncologists and fellows-in-training get to learn how advances in oncology are made, including the background of research issues, unmet needs, trial designs, methods used, results, author conclusions, and discussant views putting new findings in perspective.