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Message from the EditorWelcometothesecondeditionofourNewsletter.

In this issue, I am featuring Professor Stephen T. Sonis, a name synonymouswithOralOncology andOralMucositis,oneofthefoundingfathersofourSociety.“Steve,”asweaffectionatelycallhim,wasthisyear’swinnerofISOODistinguishedServiceAward.Infact,itwasStevewhointroducedmetoMASCC/ISOOinthelate 1990swhen Iwas a clinical fellowunder hismentorship. Contrary to the usual procedure forwriting

aboutapersonofsignificance,IhavegiventhetoughesttasktoStevetowriteabouthimself,reflectingonhisjourneyinsupportivecare incancerandoraloncologyandhisviewsonwhatthefutureholdsfororaloncologists. Interestingly,thisturnedouttobeabriefhistoryofISOOitself!Iwillbefeaturingotherleadersinthecomingissues,sowatchthisspace.Alsofeaturedthismonthisanupdate fromtheMucositisStudyGroupandaMessage fromour ImmediatePast-President,OuraniaNicolatou-Galitis.Please feelfreetocontactmeviaemailwithyoursuggestionsandcontributions.Happyreading!

Regards,RajNair,Editor,ISOONewsletter

N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 7ISOO Online | ISOO Publications | Oral Care Study Group

ProfessorOuraniaNicolatou-Galitis

ThepriortwoyearswereveryproductivefortheInternationalSocietyofOralOncology.ISOOhascontinuedtopromotetheconceptoforaloncologyinalliancewiththeidealsofMASCC.ISOOCECourseshave remainedpopularandwell-attendedand, in2016,we initiated ISOODistinguishedServiceAwards.

ISOOhasalsoendorsedmeetingsorganizedbyothernationalsocieties,suchastheJapaneseAssociationofOralSupportiveCareinCancer(JAOSCC),theHellenicSocietyofOralOncology,andtheHellenicSocietyofHeadandNeckCancerfor2016and2017,andhasbeenactiveinpromotingoralsupportivecarearoundtheworld.

ISOOhas also formed a new collaborationwith theASCOPalliative and Supportive Care inOncology Symposium in 2016, within the framework ofMASCC’s official participation. The2017ASCOPalliativeandSupportiveCareinOncologySymposiumwasheldonOctober27thand 28th in San Diego, California. “The Conversation: A Revolutionary Plan for End-of-LifeCare,”byAngeloVolandes,wasamongmany impressivepresentations. SeveralMASCCandISOO members participated in the San Diego program, including Eduardo Bruera, Andrea

Cheville, Thomas LeBlanc,Charles Loprinzi, SandraMitchell, RudolphNavari, IraR. Parker, EricRoeland, andThomasSmith. ISOOPresidentAllanHovanandIhadthegreatopportunitytohighlighttherole,value,andcontributionsoforalsupportiveoncologytothewellbeingofthecancerpatient.

IwanttoexpressmysincerethankstotheISOOBoard,whichofferedmethehonoranduniqueopportunityandexperiencetoserveastheISOOPresidentandIinviteyoualltotheViennaMeetinginJune,2018

A Message from the Past-President

In Partnership with the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, MASCC.org

Raj Nair

Professor Ourania Nicolatou-Galitis

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ByProfessorStephenTSonis

I’ve had a fascinaaon with oral complicaaons of cancer therapy sincemy residency, when I wasfortunateenoughtospenda lotofameattheSidneyFarberCancerCenter,nowtheDana-FarberCancerInsatute.Istartedtostudythesubjectformallyacermyfellowship,butdidn’tpublishonthetopicunal1978.Soonacer,DougPetersoncontactedmetodiscussmutual interests.Attheame,Dougwasat theUniversityofMaryland. It turnedout thatheand Iwereprofessional soulmates.Acerdentalschool,DougcompletedhisdoctoratewithIsaiah(Josh)Fidler,aniconintumorbiology,especiallyaroundmetastases,andthenwentontostudyoralinfecaonsinmyelosuppressedcancerpaaents.Mydoctoralthesisdescribedtheroleofanabody-dependentcell-mediatedcytotoxicityintumor biology and my post-doc dealt with predicang tumor (leukemia) response to various

chemotherapeuacagents.Atanyrate,oursharedbackgroundsandinterestssparkedacollaboraaonandfriendshipthatconanues.IendedupvisiangDoug inBalamoretodiscusshowwemightmovethe“field” forward.At thatpoint,Doug introducedmetoanupcomingcolleaguewithwhomhehadworkedonassessingoralcomplicaaonsassociatedwiththethentotallynewfieldofbonemarrowtransplant.ThuswasMarkSchubertdracedintothefold.

DougandIconcludedthatawaytojump-starttheendeavormightbetoconveneaconferenceofaneclecacgroupofindividuals,not defined by degree, but by their shared interests in the role of oral health in paaents’ response to cancer therapy. TakingadvantageofDoug’ssuperiororganizaaonalskillsandwithfundingfromindustry,weheldaconferenceataBalamore-WashingtonAirporthotel.Sincewewantedtoincludeourresidents,Irecallourrenangastaaonwagon,loadingitwithresidents(yes–thirdseatandall),andinthespiritofChevyChase’squestforWalleyWorldintheNaaonalLampoonmovieVacaaon(1983),sehngoffearlyonaSundaymorning(PeterLockhartridingshotgun).

Themeeangwasevenmoreproducave thanwe’dhoped–notonly in content,but inbeingable to consolidatea coregroupofclinicianscienastswhoreportedonsubstanaveissuesanddata.Twosignificantconsequencesresultedfromthatfirstconference:DougandIeditedashortbookatledOralComplica3onsofCancerChemotherapy,andweidenafiedacoregroupofindividualswhowouldsubsequentlyformthenidusofathen-unanacipatedorganizaaon.Asamplingoftheauthorshipofthebookprovidessomeinsightintothosewhocontributedtothefieldinitsformaaveyears:JoeAsnerandSteveSchimpff,med-oncsfromMaryland,SamDreizen,adualdegreedoc(DDS,MD)fromtheUniversityofTexas,Houston,denastsEdTruelove,PeterLockhart,MarkSchubertandDanOverholser,aswellasJoyceO’Dwyer,anurse,andLisaWilliams,adentalhygienist.Thebookthussetthestageforacultureofinclusivitythatsallprevailstoday.

Theenthusiasmandcriacalmassofinterestedandacaveindividualsencouragedustoorganizeasecondmeeang.Andso,in1984,Doug,MarkandI,alongwithSpencerReadingputtogetheraconferenceinBostontoshareexperiencesanddiscussnextsteps.AsinBalamore,themeeangakractedindividualswitharangeofprofessionalbackgroundswhowerealsogeographicallydiverse.Wealsoconcluded that theadvances inoncologycare, the resultantmyriadoforal sideeffects, and the lackofa coordinated,dedicatedgroupofprofessionalsinterestedinthetopicwarrantedthecreaaonofanewenaty.HencetheformaaonofTheSocietyforClinicalandExperimentalOralOncology.

Astheysay,therestishistory.ThenameofthegroupchangedtotheISOO.WiththefoundingofMASCCin1990,Dougrecognizedtheopportunitytocapitalizeonsharedinterestsandworkeddiligentlywithotherstoestablishaboomingandsuccessfulalliance.Oraloncologyhasevolvedfromadescripavesciencetoonethat istotallydynamic.Acerall, theoralandperioralanatomy(hardassue,differenttypesofmucosa,skin,nerves,etc.)andenvironment(saliva,blood,microbiome,innateandadapaveimmunity,etc.)are unique, easily observed and sampled. So they have provided a plalorm for a range of studies that have led to a bekerunderstanding of the pathogenesis of oral complicaaons of cancer therapy, butmore importantly, have provided targets for thedevelopmentoftreatments.

Onapersonallevel,Ihavebenefikedfromtheeffortsofthecolleaguesnamedaboveandmanyothers,toonumeroustomenaonhere. ISOO and MASCC have led to friendships, collaboraaons, and chances to share and discuss the science and pracace ofsupporave care. Unfortunately cancer is not going away. But new therapies are conanuously evolving— though none withouttoxiciaes.Wehavehugeopportuniaesandchallengesto impactpaaents’ability toreceiveopamumana-cancertherapywiththeleastclinicalcost.

DrSonis isSeniorSurgeonatBrighamandWomen’sHospitalandDana-FarberCancer Ins3tute,ProfessorofOralMedicineatHarvardandChiefScien3ficOfficer,Biomodels,Boston,MassachuseIes,USA

Once Upon A Time…

Professor Stephen T Sonis

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The Mucositis Study Group (MSG) of MASCC/ISOO periodically updates its clinical practice guidelines for the management ofmucositis. The latestupdateof theguidelineswaspublished in2014.During the last year, theMSGhasbeenworkingonanewupdate.FollowinganextensivesystematicreviewconductedbyMSGmembers,thegroupconvenedinWashingtoninJune,2017todiscussthecurrentfindings.

Due to its broad scope, the topicwas divided into 9 classes of clinical interventions. Over 14,690 paperswere identified in theliterature search and were triaged. Over 627 publicationsmet the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were reviewed in detail.Following the presentation of each section, an open discussion brought up excellent feedback from the group. Likewise, manyconceptualideaswerevoiced,andwebelievethiswillstrengthentheresultsofthesystematicreviewandthemucositisguidelines.Currently,theMSGisworkingtoaddressthesecommentsandtomergethedataretrievedduringthesystematicreviewwiththedatabasedevelopedduringthepreviousguidelinesupdate.

TheMSGisfortunatetohaveawonderfulgroupofmemberswhovolunteeredtotakepartinthesystematicreviewandguidelinesupdate.ThisengagementofthemembersinMSGactivitiesisphenomenalandisevidentwheneveracallforvolunteersissentout.WetakethisopportunitytoexpressourappreciationtotheenthusiasticresponseoftheMSGmembers.YouaremakingtheMSGsuccessful.

Whiletheguidelinesupdateisongoing,theMSGleadersarepreparingforthe2018MASCC/ISOOAnnualMeeting.WeworkcloselywiththeStudyGroupCoordinatorandtheAnnualMeeting’sOrganizingCommittee.StaytunedfortheMSGupdates.Moretocome!

SharonElad,PaoloBossiandKarisChengMASCCStudyGroupChairandVice-chairs

Mucositis Study Group News

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Meet a New ISOO Member • Introduce Yourself! Thissecaonisdedicatedtonewmembers.IfyouhavejoinedISOOrecently,pleasesendme(r.nair@griffith.edu.au)abriefbio,yourpersonalinterests,andaphotograph.

Recruit a ColleaguePleaseintroduceacolleagueorfriendwhoisinterestedintheISOOtobecomeamember.BeingaMASCCandISOOmemberhasgreatbenefits, suchas reducedregistraaonratesatannualmeeangs, theopportunity tomeetandcollaboratewith internaaonalexperts,onlineaccesstoourjournal,Suppor3veCareinCancer,andmuchmore.

What’s New in the Scientific World? DigitalPill:TheUSFDAhasapprovedAbilifyMyCite(aripiprazoletabletswithsensor),apillwithasensorthatdigitallytrackswhetherpaaentshaveingestedthemedicaaon.Thefeasibilityofa“digitalpill”inoncologyisyettobedetermined.

Formoreinformaaonandapressrelease,see:hkps://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm584933.htm

Share the News Doyouhaveanaracleornewsthatyouwouldliketoshare?PleasecontactRaj,r.nair@griffith.edu.au