By Luis E. Raez, MD, FACP, FCCP
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) and the Peruvian Oncology Research Group (GECO) organized and hosted the “Best of the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC)” in Lima, Peru, on February 4–5 2016. The conference was very successful, with almost 250 doctors attending from several medical specialties including medical oncology, surgery, and pulmonary and radiation oncology, among others.
The meeting was chaired by Dr. Luis E. Raez from Memorial Cancer Institute (Florida, US), Dr. Luis A. Mass from the National Cancer Institute (Lima, Peru), and Dr. Denisse Bretel (Medical Director of GECO). Several IASLC speakers from the US including Drs. Fred Hirsch, Suresh Ramalingam, Luis E. Raez, Francisco Tarrazzi, and Ana Botero also participated. In addition, other IASLC members from South America were part of the program, including Drs. Carlos Vallejos (Peru), Carlos Barrios and Gilberto Lopes (Brazil), and Andres Cardona (Colombia). They joined another 12 outstanding IASLC speakers from Peru.
The program featured a comprehensive review of lung cancer from epidemiology, tobacco control, and screening to presentations of the latest developments in diagnosis, surgery, and radiation as well as molecular diagnosis, immunotherapy, and targeted therapies. A large number of oncology fellows from several subspecialties attended. One of the major goals of WCLC meetings in Latin America is to motivate young oncologists from this region to join IASLC and the fight against lung cancer.
IASLC has a venerated tradition of organizing successful meetings in Peru. In 2014 Dr. Raez and Dr. Vallejos organized the 6th Latin American Lung Cancer Conference (LALCA), the largest LALCA meeting ever conducted with more than 750 physicians attending. We look forward to another successful Best of World Conference on Lung Cancer in Lima, Peru, in 2017. ✦
