As the 2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer approaches, IASLC leaders, including President Paul Van Schil, MD, PhD, have spent many hours reflecting on the history of the association, which first met 50 years ago in Florence, Italy. So it may come as no surprise that one of the highly anticipated sessions at WCLC 2024 is a special plenary session, 50 Years of IASLC: Advances in Thoracic Oncology Treatment & Research: Legacy of Impact, Future of Promise, on Sunday, September 8.
Dr. Van Schil, Professor of Thoracic and Vascular Surgery at Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium, encouraged every WCLC delegate to attend, either in person or virtually, this important session. Though it is just one of the many must-see events on his to-do list for WCLC.
“As a long-term IASLC member and especially now as President, I have noted that those who come to WCLC are quite interested in international cooperation and multidisciplinary topics,” Dr. Van Schil said. “For example, I’m a surgeon, but I don’t attend WCLC to discuss surgery. I attend for the interactions with medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and other specialists; to look for common themes to help us define the best diagnostic and treatment algorithms for our patients.”
With international and multidisciplinary cooperation in mind, WCLC features a rich menu of joint symposia and educational sessions taking place in conjunction with other organizations such as the American Society for Clinical Oncology, the International Mesothelioma Interest Group, the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology, the Chinese Alliance Against Lung Cancer, and more.
As such sessions demonstrate, the IASLC is uniquely international and multidisciplinary. WCLC attendees have more opportunities to hear, meet, and talk with experts from more countries around the world focused on more aspects of lung cancer than is possible in any other organization or venue, Dr. Van Schil said.
Additionally, Dr. Van Schil said discussion of the new TNM classification criteria is also not to be missed.
“And as IASLC President, I’m certainly looking forward to the two Presidential Symposia,” he said. “We will be presenting several late-breaking studies on some very interesting topics. You will hear more about these embargoed abstracts soon.”
Early risers can attend Meet-the-Experts sessions starting at 07:30 PDT daily Sunday through Tuesday. The program is also packed with workshops, education sessions, oral abstract presentations, posters, and more offering discussions on a wide array of topics and interests.
“I think the Highlights of the Day sessions are quite interesting to follow,” Dr. Van Schil said. “Each morning, Sunday through Tuesday, you can hear a summary of the most important abstracts presented the previous day. It is a good way to catch up on sessions that you might have missed.”
The WCLC virtual program is another good way to catch sessions you might have missed. Major presentations will be live streamed for virtual attendees, and all sessions will be available on-demand for both virtual and in-person attendees shortly after the on-site presentation.
“I would encourage those who attend live streamed sessions to participate in the discussion by using the chat box or asking questions to the speakers,” he said.
Finally, Dr. Van Schil said he wanted to remind attendees that San Diego itself is a major attraction. As a volunteer tour guide at the Antwerp Zoo, he said he is most excited to be able to revisit the San Diego Zoo, one of the largest and most diverse zoos in the world.
“San Diego is an amazing city; the zoo, interesting museums,” he said. “And the convention center is so nice with its location on the harbor. So make time to see the city as well. I know I am excited to be able to visit the city once again.”
