Oncology conferences such as those offered by ASCO (American Society for Clinical Oncology), ESMO (European Society for Medical Oncology), and IASLC (International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer) are premier sources for connecting with others in the  lung cancer community, learning about different aspects of lung cancer research and policy, and highlighting key research results.  The entire lung cancer community can help in disseminating results of research that impacts us.  

On Thursday, June 3, at 8 pm Eastern Time (5 pm Pacific), #LCSM Chat will discuss ways the community make the most of these conferences. Attending in-person conferences is a great way to connect, build your network, see what industry is doing, and learn more about a variety of educational and research topics.  Virtual conferences also offer many opportunities to learn and connect, and because they eliminate travel, have the added advantage of being less expensive to attend.

The ASCO Annual Meeting (the world’s largest oncology conference) begins on Friday, June 4, 2021. This conference reports on research for all aspects and types of cancers, and often includes results of major clinical trials or studies that may lead to changes in lung cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment, patient care, survivorship, and policy. This year’s conference #ASCO21 is entirely virtual, but this comes with a silver lining: patient advocates can participate for FREE, whether or not they are members of ASCO! Registration is open at https://conferences.asco.org/am/registration  through Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at 11:59 PM (ET).

Whether or not you register for ASCO, you can find information in oncology newsletters, online news sources, and social media about #ASCO21 presentations. The program, education book, and most abstracts and posters are already available on ASCO’s website.  During the conferences, many key findings can be found by reading the #LCSM (Lung Cancer Social Media) feed on Twitter. 

On June 3, #LCSM Chat co-moderator and cancer research advocate Janet Freeman-Daily (@JFreemanDaily) will lead our discussion using the following topics:

• T1: Where can we find key #ASCO21 lung cancer research results? Where are the sources that explain research results in patient-friendly language?
• T2: How can patients, advocates, clinicians, researchers, and industry connect during virtual oncology conferences?
• T3: How can member of the lung cancer community help disseminate information presented at oncology conferences?

• T4: What makes a conference presentation worth sharing?
• T5: What hints do you have to help attendees make the most of #ASCO21?

Please join us, and bring your experiences and wisdom! Remember to include #LCSM in ALL your tweets so the other chat participants can see them. You can read a primer on participating in the chat here. We look forward to chatting with you!