About FAC 2024
The organisation for the 25th joint meeting held by kConFab, ISK, ABCFS, ACCFS, Lifepool and the Family Cancer Clinics of Australia for August - September 2023 is progressing well and we will hold a face-to-face and on-line meeting.
Although the named consortia are funded in very different ways and have no official connections, all groups share a common interest in familial and population based cancer. For example, kConFab recruits families at high genetic risk of breast, ovarian and prostate cancer through Family Cancer Clinics located in every State and Territory of Australia and return our research generated germ-line mutation test results back to family members and the relevant treating FCC. In one sense kConFab is the research arm of the national Family Cancer Clinics. Many of the consortia members are health professionals (medical oncologists, surgeons, genetic counsellors, cancer specialists, research scientists) working in the Family Cancer Clinics and major research institutions through-out Australia and New Zealand.
A joint annual meeting has particular value for the groups mentioned as it provides a forum to develop and discuss new research findings, clinical trials and implementation of technologies about families with multiple cases of breast, ovarian, prostate, endometrial melanoma, sarcoma, leukaemia and colorectal cancers.
FAC 2024 will be hybrid
FAC 2024 will be delivered in a hybrid format, combining an in-person conference experience with an online component.
In-Person attendees will experience all the usual highlights of the FAC meeting, including leading keynote presentations, opportunity to submit abstracts to present an oral or poster presentation, opportunity to attend breakout sessions, networking opportunities and an industry exhibition.
Virtual attendees will be able to view the live-streamed presentations in the plenary sessions and participate in the Q & A. They also have the opportunity to submit abstracts and present an oral or poster presentation.
Topics to be Covered
Themes for the Family Cancer Clinic Day include:
27th August
- Male cancers: prostate, breast, testicular
- Skin cancer genetics: BCC and syndromes
- Psychosocial aspects of family communication, family dynamics, guilt, and shame
- CRC - polyposis and tumourgenesis in syndromes vs general population, treatments, and surveillance.
Themes for the combined clinical, scientific and psychosocial meeting:
28th - 30th August
- Breast, ovarian, prostate, sarcoma, colorectal cancer, haematological malignancies, paediatric cancer susceptibility/predisposition
- Polygenic Risk Score and cancer risk
- Cancer signatures to direct treatment
- The value of surveillance in changing clinical practice
- Early cancer detection research programs
- Imaging biomarkers of breast cancer risk and response to treatment
- Variant curation and bioinformatics
Confirmed International Speakers
Helen Davies, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre, Cambridge, UK
Susan Domchek, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Robert Bristow. CRUK Manchester Institute, UK
Kevin Monahan, St Mark’s Hospital, UK
Helen Davies
Kevin Monahan
Kevin Monahan
Dr Monahan undertook his PhD at Cancer Research UK and at St Mark’s Hospital, and has spent 9 years working at West Middlesex University Hospital and Chelsea & Westminster Hospital where he still leads a cancer genetics clinic. He is also an honorary senior clinical lecturer at Imperial College London.
Dr Monahan performs genetic testing, endoscopic and other screening for gastrointestinal cancer in susceptible populations, such as those people with a family history of cancer, and also has an interest in prevention and early detection of cancer. He has research interests in clinical and molecular aspects of gastrointestinal pathology, particularly in the field of endoscopy, colorectal, pancreatic and other gastrointestinal cancers.
Robert Bristow
Robert Bristow
Professor Robert Bristow joined the University of Manchester as Director of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) in August 2017 with a remit to developing a new cancer strategy for Manchester with a cancer team science approach. The MCRC is a unique partnership between Cancer Research UK, The University of Manchester and the Christie NHS Foundation Trust.
His primary research interests are in tumour hypoxia, DNA damage signalling and repair in tumours, and the genomics of prostate cancer progression and cancer treatment response. He is particularly interested in novel clinical trials that intensify cancer therapy to prostate cancer patients whose tumours harbour aggressive genetic changes and hypoxic sub-regions.
Professor Bristow is currently a senior group leader in Translational Oncogenomics at the CRUK Manchester Institute and was the lead PI for the Canadian component of the ICGC whole genome prostate cancer sequencing project (CPC-GENE).
He has served on a number of senior Scientific Advisory Boards and committees for: Prostate Cancer Foundation (USA), the MOVEMBER Foundation, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the German Cancer Centre, Tuebingen Comprehensive Cancer Centre, NKI Amsterdam, the Danish Cancer Society and sits on the Scientific Executive Board for Cancer Research UK (CRUK). He has over 280 published papers and book chapters and is twice a Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) awardee. He was made a Canadian Cancer Society Research Scientist in 2004, an ESTRO Honorary Fellow in 2011 and a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences (UK) in 2019.
Susan Domcheck
Susan Domcheck
A medical oncologist and the Director of the Basser Center at the Perelman School of Medicine. She is a nationally recognized expert in the translation of genetic testing for cancer susceptibility into clinical care of patients in the areas of prevention, early detection, and cancer treatment. Dr. Domchek’s research interests include implementing novel strategies to improve uptake of genetic testing, further understanding specific risks associated with cancer susceptibility genes, and developing more effective therapies for BRCA1/2 mutation associated cancers. Dr. Domchek is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
She holds an MD from Harvard University, and completed her residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, and her fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Areas of Expertise
- Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
- Health Care Innovation
- Implementation Science
Clinical Area
- Oncology
Organising Committee
Cassie Nichols
Daniel Buchanan, The University of Melbourne
Eliza Courtney
Finlay Macrae
Heather Thorne
John Hopper, The University of Melbourne
Laura Forrest
Melissa Southey, Monash University, Melbourne
Milita Zaheed, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney
Rachel Williams, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney
Simon Troth
Sponsors
©2024 Familial Aspects of Cancer Research & Practice Conference 2024. All Rights Reserved.