Newswise — FORT WASHINGTON, PA — The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) will hold the NCCN 19th Annual Conference: Advancing the Standard of Cancer Care™, March 13 – 15, 2014, at The Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Florida. Approximately 1,500 physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other oncology professionals and representatives of the business sector are expected to attend.

“With three full days of events, this year’s conference promises to address the most relevant issues affecting oncology practice today, as well as clinical treatment updates for more than 15 cancer types, best practices in patient management and supportive care, and strategies for implementation of the NCCN Guidelines,” said Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. “NCCN is pleased to bring together such an esteemed group of experts as we move into our twentieth year improving the lives of patients with cancer.”

This year’s conference will feature two roundtable discussions, the first of which will be held on Thursday, March 13, 2014. The Child’s Experience When a Parent Has Cancer, moderated by Lillie D. Shockney, RN, BS, MAS, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins—one of the 23 NCCN Member Institutions—will explore the experiences of children as they encounter the oncology landscape alongside a parent who has been diagnosed with cancer, as well as of parents who have lost spouses to cancer.

The panelists for Thursday’s roundtable are Martha Aschenbrenner, MA, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; Bruce Ham, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Single Fathers Due to Cancer Support Group, and author, Laughter, Braids and Tears; Paula K. Rauch, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital; Zoraida Sambolin, Emmy Award-winning journalist and former co-anchor for CNN’s “Early Start”; and Maya Silver, co-author, My Parent Has Cancer and It Really Sucks.

The second roundtable, scheduled for Friday, March 14, The Affordable Care Act: Where Are We Now?, will be moderated by Clifford Goodman, PhD, The Lewin Group. Dr. Goodman will be joined by Christian G. Downs, JD, MHA, Association of Community Cancer Centers; Liz Fowler, PhD, JD, Johnson & Johnson; Michael Kolodziej, MD, Aetna; Lee H. Newcomer, MD, MHA, UnitedHealthcare; John C. Winkelmann, MD, Oncology Hematology Care, Inc., and Councillor, American Society of Hematology; Mohammed S. Ogaily, MD, Henry Ford Health System; and W. Thomas Purcell, MD, MBA, University of Colorado Cancer Center.

Friday’s roundtable will feature discussion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and health reform in the United States, its effect on the oncology landscape from the clinician, provider, payer, and industry perspectives, and how oncology care will continue to evolve as the ACA is further implemented.

The 2014 conference will also include updates to the library of NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®), for diseases such as Breast, Non-Small Cell Lung, and Prostate Cancers, Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, and Melanoma. Other presentations will cover topics including, but not limited to, genetic counseling in patients with familial risk of colorectal cancer and designing clinical trials in the era of biomarkers and targeted therapies.

The full conference agenda is available at NCCN.org. Press inquiries and requests for interviews should be addressed to Katie Kiley Brown at [email protected].

About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®), a not-for-profit alliance of 23 of the world’s leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education, is dedicated to improving the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of cancer care so that patients can live better lives. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. As the arbiter of high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers.

The NCCN Member Institutions are: Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center at The Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE; City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA; Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center | Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA; Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, NC; Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA; Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle, WA; The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY; Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL; The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Columbus, OH; Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY; Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital/The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN; Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford, CA; University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, Birmingham, AL; UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA; UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA; University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, CO; University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI; The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN.

Clinicians, visit NCCN.org. Patients and caregivers, visit NCCN.org/patients.