FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 27, 2016
Global Experts on Precision Diagnostics for Prostate Cancer Announce Participation in Inaugural Summit
Summit Goal: Crossing Medical Silos to Solve Fundamental Challenges in Precision Care and Give Every Man the Best Chance
(BOSTON—April 27, 2016)—Several of the world’s top medical experts in multiple clinical disciplines today announced they will be participating in the First Global Summit on Diagnostic Precision for Prostate Cancer, in an effort to expedite precision or individualized approaches to patient care.
The Summit will educate key health care stakeholders about the state-of-the-art and emerging advances in prostate diagnostics, create a consensus-based vision for the future of precision care and a strategy for its realization. The event, planned by Boston-based non-profit, AdMeTech Foundation, is designed to stimulate novel ideas and groundbreaking advances in diagnostic precision so that every man will have the best chance of receiving personalized screening, early detection and treatment.
The Summit, to be held in Boston from September 16-18, 2016, will bring together global medical specialists who normally work in separate “silos” in order to bridge the currently existing gaps, share the cutting-edge information and expedite comprehensive expert consensus on the current and future impact of multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary tools on patient care, including but not limited, to:
- Biomarkers, including molecular diagnostics
- Imaging
- Genomics
- Genetics
Several experts, who have been providing leadership in the advancement of precision diagnostics and representing some of the most prestigious international clinical and educational institutions, have committed to participate as of today, including:
- Massimo Loda, MD, Professor of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School in Boston;
- Laurence Klotz, MD, Professor of Surgery, University of Toronto and Chief of Urology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Canada;
- Howard Scher, MD, Chief, Genitourinary Oncology Service, Sidney Kimmel Center for Urologic and Prostate Cancers, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and D. Wayne Calloway Chair in Urologic Oncology and Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York; and
- Jelle Barentsz, MD, PhD, Chair and Professor of Radiology Prostate Magnetic Resonance Center of Excellence, Nijmegen Medical Center, Radboud University, The Netherlands.
Prostate cancer has higher incidence rates than any other major (non-skin) malignancy in the United States, striking as many as one in seven men. While curable when detected early, prostate cancer remains the second most lethal malignancy in men. Prostate cancer is a leading health disparity, with 1.6 times higher incidence and 2.5 times higher mortality rates in Black (including Hispanic) men. The lack of accurate diagnostic tools leads to widespread unnecessary and failed procedures, such as biopsies and treatment, causing loss of countless lives, reducing quality of life in millions of American men and adding billions in health care costs each year.
The Summit will stimulate a multi-disciplinary education and discussion to address the central clinical challenge – to increase the benefits and decrease the risks and costs of prostate cancer care by:
- Improving prediction and early detection of life-threatening prostate cancer and saving lives; and
- Reducing over-diagnosis and over-treatment of slow growing, or harmless, diseases, which are not likely to cause symptoms in a man’s lifetime.
“History shows that fundamental discoveries most frequently occur at the boundaries of medical disciplines, or ‘individual silos’. We are bringing together key experts who provide world leadership in individual, highly sub-specialized areas of precision prostate diagnostics to foster a cross-disciplinary dialogue and expedite joint, consensus-based medical education, research and clinical implementation,” said Dr. Faina Shtern, President and CEO of AdMeTech Foundation, the Boston-based non-profit organizing the Summit. “Ultimately, these precision tools will make over- and under-diagnosis of prostate cancer as relevant to patient care as carrier pigeons are to modern digital communications.”
Dozens of the world’s leading urologists, radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, molecular medicine and other medical professionals are expected to present their latest research and participate.
The First Global Summit on Diagnostic Precision for Prostate Cancer is being sponsored in part by Hitachi Aloka and the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, as well as Philips, Siemens, GenomeDx, Genomic Health, LabCorp, Myriad Genetics, ScanMed and Steward Health Care System.
AdMeTech recently held its 8th Annual Prostate Cancer Awareness Day at the Massachusetts State House, which brought together leading elected officials, experts and advocates. Prostate Cancer Awareness Day and the planned Summit are integral parts of AdMeTech’s statewide program to create a Massachusetts model of national and international leadership in prostate cancer research, education and awareness. The goal of this program is to bring cutting-edge advances in prostate cancer care from the world-leading hospitals to every man and reduce health disparities.
About AdMeTech Foundation: A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, based in Boston, MA, AdMeTech Foundation established the Manogram® Project, providing international leadership for groundbreaking programs in research, education and awareness to expedite advancement of precision approach to screening, early diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer (www.admetech.org).
