The International Mesothelioma Interest Group (iMig) is an organization composed of health professionals and researchers who have an interest in malignant mesothelioma. From August 31, 2010 to September 3, 2010 iMig held its 10th International Conference at the Kyoto International Conference Center in Kyoto, Japan. The conference was hosted by Hyogo College of Medicine, with Dr. Takashi Nagano serving as the conference chair. There were 14 educational lectures and over 30 keynote lectures by doctors and researchers from around the world who specialize in mesothelioma. Membership in iMig was not required to attend the conference, although certain workshops were not open for everyone’s participation.
Some of the Educational and Keynote Lectures
Dr. David Sugarbaker, thoracic surgeon at the International Mesothelioma Program (IMP) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, lectured on Extra Pleural Pneumonectomy (EPP) and Intraoperative Heated Chemotherapy. His brother, Dr. Paul Sugarbaker, who is the director of Surgical Oncology at the Washington Cancer Institute in Washington, D.C., spoke on his specialty, Peritoneal Mesothelioma. Another noteworthy United States surgeon, Dr. Harvey Pass, who is chief of Thoracic Surgery and Thoracic Oncology of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, New York University School of Medicine and Comprehensive Cancer Center, presented a lecture entitled Surgical Approach; Thoracoscopy and Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS).
International speakers included Dr. Luciano Mutti of Italy who lectured on New Pathways and Molecular Targeted Therapy. Dr. Mutti has published papers on malignant mesothelioma with Dr. Giovanni Gaudino, a researcher at the Cancer Research Center of Hawai‘i (CRCH). Dr. Takeharu Yamanaka of Japan presented a lecture on Biostatistics for Mesothelioma Clinical Trials. Dr. Christopher Lee from Canada lectured on Maintenance Therapy; Transitioning From 1st-Line Cisplatin Plus Pemetrexed Treatment in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM).
There were a number of other international lecturers who spoke on topics that ranged from the early detection to molecular oncogenesis to the most current treatment options of malignant mesothelioma.
