Puerto Rico Oncology Summit

Congratulations to Dr. Gerardo Colon-Otero for this year’s success at the Puerto Rico Oncology Summit!
On February 3-4, I had the privilege and honor to attend and participate in The 7th Annual Puerto Rico Oncology Summit. This education effort is sponsored by FLASCO and the Puerto Rico Oncology Society (AHOMPR). Excellent lectures and discussions on the status of Oncology practices in Puerto Rico and USA from Dr. Jose Davila (previous President of AHOMPR) and Ted Okon (Executive Director of COA) and a presentation on 340B and cancer drug pricing by Dr. Rena Conti from the University of Chicago was followed by an excellent panel discussion that included representation from pharma (Tamar Thompson from BMS and James Coccia from Takeda Oncology) as well as Dr. Juan Schaening from Medicare Contracting.

The academic topic of prostate cancer in PR and USA and prostate cancer and breast cancer genetics (selected because prostate cancer is the number 1 cause of cancer deaths in PR) were covered by excellent lectures from Dr. Guillermo Tortolero- Luna, Dr. Ricardo Sanchez- Ortiz, Dr. William Oh, and Dr. Jeffrey Weitzel. Many ideas were exchanged, potential research projects delineated and potential collaborations and solutions planned based on discussions and networking.

These conferences originated during the FLASCO presidency of our beloved colleague Dr Gerald Robbins and I know that Dr Robbins would be pleased with the impact of his legacy. For the past 7 years Dr. Colon has developed and organized this conference in Puerto Rico to educate the physicians and their support staff on the differences in business and treatment compared to the states. Thank you, Dr. Colon, for volunteering your time and efforts on this great initiative. As a result of these efforts and collaborations between the PR Oncology Society (AHOMPR) and FLASCO, there has been a greater awareness of the issues facing Oncology practices in PR with increasing involvement of PR Oncology leadership in COA and ASCO state societies committees. The engagement of the PR fellowship programs in the conference has allowed the fellows to interact and present cases to internationally renowned Oncology faculty.

The fellows from the PR Hematology/ Oncology fellowship programs under the leadership of Drs. Maribel Tirado and William Caceres did a fantastic job presenting tough cases to Dr. Oh and Dr. Weitzel, with excellent discussions full of clinical pearls.

We appreciate the unrestricted financial support and participation from our pharmaceutical colleagues, particularly Takeda Oncology, Celgene, Incyte and Bristol-Myers Squibb which made this educational effort feasible. We thank Katrina Williams and Dorothy Green for their dedication and hard work in organizing this important FLASCO initiative. The 8th conference in February 2018 is already been planned, and we look forward to your participation.

PowerPoint Presentations
New Trends in the Management of Metastatic Prostate Cancer By Dr. William K. Oh
Current Issues Affecting Cancer Care in Puerto Rico By: Dr. Jose R. Davilla
Epidemiology of Prostate Cancer in Puerto Rico By: Dr. Guillermo Tortolero
Localized Prostate Cancer in Puerto Rico By: Dr. Richard F. Sanchez-Ortiz
Innovating and Advocating for Community Cancer Care By: Mr. Ted Okon

Thank the following companies for exhibiting: