Conference & Meetings World Supplements Canada Supplement | Page 18

Toronto
Circling for success in Toronto
Conference ambassadors from Toronto’s Leaders Circle set up
a winning bid that delivered record results for the organisers
of the 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer.
Case study:
The IASLC 19th World
Conference on Lung
Cancer (#WCLC2018)
23-26 September 2018
Toronto, Canada
T
he International Association
for the Study of Lung Cancer’s
(IASLC) 2018 World Conference
on Lung Cancer set attendance
records when it came to Toronto last
September, bringing leading experts
dedicated to research and treatment of
lung cancer and thoracic malignancies.
It was the world’s largest meeting of its
kind, setting a record of 7,500 attendees
from 100 countries.
As well as a record attendance, the
conference highlighted the leading work
being done in the field in Toronto and in
Canada.
A collaborative team effort by the
teams at Business Events Toronto, Metro
Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) and
other local invested businesses helped
drive the overall success of the congress.
A major role in securing the bid for
the event was played by Toronto’s
ambassador programme, known as the
Leaders Circle programme.
Leaders Circle helps provide a
transfer of knowledge and promotes
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
7,443 2,662 3,403
36.3m 11,500+ 2,000+
attendees
hashtag impressions
participants
WCLC2018 tweets
innovation and the city’s groundbreaking
institutions, as well as highlighting the
legacy of social and economic benefits
to the city and region from conferences
attracted.
Honorary chair Dr Frances Shepherd,
who holds the Scott Taylor Chair in Lung
Cancer Research the Princess Margaret
Cancer Centre, helped bring IASLC to
Toronto.
Dr Shepherd is also a Professor of
Medicine at University of Toronto. Under
her leadership, the Canadian Clinical
Trails Group Lung Cancer Site conducted
many international practice-changing
studies. These studies showed that post-
operative chemotherapy can change
the cure rate for resected lung cancer,
and that molecularly targeted treatments
can improve survival even in the most
advanced stages of the disease. She has
authored or co-authored more than 500
peer-reviewed publications and 35 book
chapters.
As well, at IASLC in Toronto, for the first
time in the history of the Congress – the
app downloads
abstracts submitted
Honorary Chair, and all three congress
Canadian co-Presidents were women –
Dr Andrea Bezjak, Dr Gail Darling and Dr
Natasha Leighl.
The Lung Site Group at Princess
Margaret is the largest comprehensive
programme in Canada treating lung
cancer and other thoracic malignancies.
The centre’s Medical Oncology
Programme offers a range of Phase I, II
and III clinical trials of novel therapies in
lung cancer.
Members of the team have made
major breakthroughs, including:
• Establishing the benefit of CT screening
in individuals at high risk of lung cancer
• Improving the survival of patients with
completely resected early-stage non-
small-cell lung cancer by administering
adjuvant chemotherapy
• Demonstrating the palliative benefit
of targeted oral agents for patients who
have previously received chemotherapy
• Establishing best practices in both
curative and palliative thoracic
radiotherapy.