Research, clinical practice, and advocacy efforts related to lung cancer will receive a boost in visibility, as the Board of Directors has approved the Assembly on Thoracic Oncology, upgrading it from section status. Activities of the new assembly will include programming scientific sessions at the sessions at the International Conference; planning postgraduate courses; drafting position papers and statements; and establishing collaborations with other respiratory disease organizations, cancer-related professional societies, and funding agencies.
“As an assembly we will immediately reach out to all of the constituencies for whom the Thoracic Oncology Assembly can be a home and resource for their clinical and research interests,” says Charles Powell, MD, chair of the new assembly. “These constituencies represent pulmonologists, oncologists, surgeons, radiologists, nurses, and interventional pulmonologists.”
During ATS 2014, the Assembly on Thoracic Oncology will present the postgraduate course “Lung Cancer: State of the Art in 2014” and symposium “Implementation of Lung Cancer Screening: A Toolbox for Clinicians and Researchers” with the Clinical Problems Assembly, as well as the “ATS/ERS Statement: Role of the Pulmonologist in the Diagnosis and Management of Lung Cancer (ICC).”
“The Section on Thoracic Oncology quickly proved itself to be a valuable asset to the ATS, and by granting it assembly status, we’ve expressed our confidence that it will continue to advance the field,” says ATS President-Elect Thomas Ferkol, MD.
The Section of Thoracic Oncology was established in 2009 to enhance the portfolio of lung cancer activities of the ATS, and was housed under the Clinical Problems Assembly and the Assembly of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. Since then, the section had grown its membership to 760 members by January, established International Conference programming, presented a workshop on the evaluation of pulmonary nodules, and sponsored the forthcoming policy statement on lung cancer screening implementation. It was also instrumental in multi-society collaborations that produced the journal articles on the classification of lung adenocarcinoma, the harms and benefits of CT screening for lung cancer, and the 2013 ATS/European Respiratory Society statement “Role of the Pulmonologist in the Diagnosis and Management of Lung Cancer.”
“Through International Conference programming, outreach efforts to members and the cancer community, document publications, journal publications, and interactions with national and international cancer related organizations led by SOTO, the ATS has increased its prominence in lung cancer and is now considered to be amongst the leaders in this field,” Dr. Powell says.
Assembly on Thoracic Oncology officers include:
- Chair: Charles A Powell, MD
- Chair Elect: Michael Gould, MD, MS
- Immediate Past Chairs: Jim Jett, MD, Edward Hirschowitz, MD
- Nominating Committee Chair: M. Patricia Rivera, MD
- Program Committee Chair: Doug Arenberg, MD
- Planning Committee Chair: Jim Jett, MD
- Web Director: Chris Slatore, MD
