Concept Development Workshops

Message from the Chair continued

now open in Ireland, the UK, Canada and the US, as well as Australia and New Zealand, and recruitment is going very well. The ENZARAD trial is also open in all those regions except Canada and we hope to have more news soon on expanding into more countries. There is considerable interest also from other US sites in both trials so we hope to bring on more sites and increase recruitment even further. The Pain Free TRUS B trial, an idea brought to ANZUP by one of its urologist members Jeremy Grummet, has now been approved by ethics and is about to roll out at sites across Australia and New Zealand. This very important study is supported by Cancer Australia and the Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia and has the potential to change practice significantly.

Our membership continues to grow but even more gratifying than the raw numbers is the fantastic level of involvement of our members. I would like to continue to encourage you all to be involved at whatever level you wish in our organisation. There are ample opportunities to become involved in research or leadership roles and to contribute to the broad base of education, training and mentorship that we provide to our members. We will in the near future tick over 1000 members and we plan celebrations for that milestone when it occurs.

No report is complete without thanking those who contribute so brilliantly to what we do. I am very grateful to our hard working board; our ANZUP secretariat of Yi Feng, Liz Thorp, Andrew “AJ” Tennant and led by the indefatigable Marg McJannett, our Chief Executive Officer; our committee chairs and deputy chairs and members; members of the Scientific Advisory Committee and the Consumer Advisory Panel; our wonderful volunteers Lesley Tinkler and Jo Stubbs; our colleagues and collaborators at NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, the Centre for Biostatistics and Clinical Trials (BaCT) and elsewhere; our corporate supporters, sponsors and donors; and I am sure I have missed many. Thank you for all you do. It is a wonderful privilege to be part of this group and to see its effectiveness and meaningful outcomes.

I wish you all my very best wishes for the festive season and a happy and healthy New Year. Please enjoy this edition of UPdate.

Concept Development Workshops (CDW)

The two concept development workshops held in Sydney in 2014 were a great success. This year these workshops were extended to incorporate 3 full days covering the tumour groups renal, bladder and prostate. These concept workshops like the previous year generated considerable interest and discussion.

There are 3 major components to the CDWS. First, all members are invited to submit a brief concept to be considered for discussion at the CDW. The aim is to encourage members to consider new proposals and submit an idea. This can be helpful for concepts that require broad feedback or further refinement. Younger members can also find this process rewarding. Second, submitted concepts are presented to a multidisciplinary group at the CDW including senior investigators, statisticians and health economists and quality of life experts. The resulting discussion is often wide-ranging but aims to define clear “next steps”, which might include forming a working party to create a protocol or re-defining the concept with the help of newly identified collaborators. Finally, it’s an opportunity for the assembled group to brainstorm- considering gaps in current knowledge and new opportunities.

The first workshop was the Prostate cancer session held on 23 September 2015. Scott Williams chaired the workshop which included presentations from Shomik Sengupta and Lisa Horvath involving trials on innovative imaging modalities and biomarkers. The second workshop was the Renal cancer session held on 28 September 2015. Ian Davis chaired the workshop which included presentations from Craig Gedye and Ian Davis. Discussions centred around novel treatments as well as identification of gaps in surgical, translational and supportive care concepts. The third workshop was the Bladder cancer session held on 14 October 2015 chaired by Dickon Hayne. Presentations were made by Kath Schubach, Amelia McCartney and Nat Lenzo. It involved concepts in translational research, imaging modalities and nursing care.

The CDWs are not intended to replace existing opportunities to submit a concept to any of the subcommittees nor the brainstorming sessions held at the Annual Scientific Meeting. Rather, we hope that the CDWs will offer additional opportunities for concept development and encourage participation from the breadth of our membership. We plan to hold CDWs again in 2016, and would welcome feedback about how they could be improved.