ASCO & the Media

The 2008 ASCO Annual Meeting Press Program highlighted 18 studies in four onsite scientific news briefings that focused on breast cancer, treatment and quality of life, screening and treatment, and pharmacogenomics. Two Meet the Experts sessions provided reporters with additional perspective on science in the areas of brain tumors and melanoma.

ASCO also released more than 4,300 abstracts on May 15 in advance of the Annual Meeting. Incoming ASCO President Richard L. Schilsky, MD, and Julie R. Gralow, MD, Chair of the Cancer Communications Committee, moderated a briefing on the day of the release to highlight six of those abstracts. The briefing attracted more than 100 members of the media and focused on topics including the effects of vitamin D on breast cancer, end-of-life discussions, and childhood cancer issues.

This year’s opening press briefing featured Immediate Past ASCO President Nancy E. Davidson, MD, Dr. Gralow, and National Cancer Institute (NCI) Director John E. Niederhuber, MD. In addition to outlining some of the advances slated for release at the Meeting, they also emphasized the importance of the issue of flat biomedical research funding in the past five years, a problem that threatens to derail progress in many areas of medical advancement.

ASCO also held a press conference on the first day of the Meeting to announce the partnership of Cancer.Net and “Frosted Pink with a Twist,” a new multimedia campaign that will educate viewers about cancers that primarily affect women. This year’s nationally televised event will include musical and athletic performances by Grammy Award-winning artists and Olympic Champion women’s figure skaters and gymnasts. Speakers at this year’s press conference included former Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton.

More than 320 journalists attended and reported on events at the 2008 Annual Meeting, in addition to journalists who provided coverage of the Meeting offsite, generating widespread national and international coverage from top print and broadcast media outlets, including:
ABC News
Agence France-Presse
Associated Press
Bloomberg News
Boston Globe
Business Week
CBS Evening News
CNBC
Forbes
Healthline
Los Angeles Times
NBC Nightly News
Newshour with Jim Lehrer
Newsweek
Oncology News International
Oncology Times
Reuters
San Francisco Chronicle
The New York Times The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
Time
USA Today

ASCO Acknowledges Press Program Faculty
ASCO expresses its sincere appreciation to the following volunteers for their participation and leadership in developing the 2008 Annual Meeting Press Program:

Nancy E. Davidson, MD
Julie R. Gralow, MD
Robert F. Ozols, MD, PhD
Nicholas J. Petrelli, MD
Howard M. Sandler, MD
Richard L. Schilsky, MD
Eric P. Winer, MD