The last few decades witnessed the rapid advancement in oncology that had revolutionised our fundamental understanding of the mechanisms, diagnosis and treatments of cancer. Due to the advances in diagnostic methods, the number of new cancer cases are on the rise globally and particularly, in the Asia-Pacific region. This highlights the need for tighter scientific investigation and collaboration targeting the unique demographics in this region.

“Precision oncology” refers to the diverse strategies in cancer medicine to tailor ideal therapies for individual patients. These strategies range from targeted therapies to using data from next-generation sequencing. Precision oncology has received widespread enthusiasm and is rapidly entering the mainstream of clinical practice. As multidisciplinary and seamless collaboration is essential for innovation and the bridging between scientific discovery and clinical application, the mission of HKPOS is to foster the development of precision oncology via promoting multi-disciplinary communication across clinicians, scientists and industry leaders.

The 6th Hong Kong International Oncology Symposium (6th HKIOS) will be conducted in Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers on 26th and 27th October. The event is joined by renowned speakers with a higher international representation, reflecting our initiatives in fostering international medical collaborations.

The recent bloom of artificial intelligence highlighted its potentials in cancer medicine. The prospects and emerging topics of artificial intelligence in imaging analysis and treatment decision will be discussed in the symposium.

Immunotherapy, the treatment by activation or suppression the immune system, is seen as a breakthrough in oncology as evident in the positive results of clinical trials with immune checkpoint inhibitors for common cancers. However, these trials also suggested genetic differences between individuals as an important determinant accountable for subgroup differences in efficacy. Therefore, the symposium will explore the personalization of immunotherapy based on genomic profiling, new DNA technologies like gene editing, as well as methods of benefit prediction and treatment selection in immunotherapy.

Alongside the emergence of ground-breaking treatments, advancement in conventional treatment modalities like radiotherapy also expands the possibility of cancer control and cure. The development of high precision radiotherapy is important for both radical or palliative cancer treatment. The symposium will discuss areas in stereotactic body radiotherapy and proton therapy.

The 6th HKIOS will continue to highlight important research that would potentially transform clinical oncology in the coming decades, bring together leading oncologists and scientists from Hong Kong and internationally to exchange knowledge, expertise and experiences which are all valuable for the prospects of cancer medicine.

We invite you to join us in these endeavours and hope to see you at the 6th HKIOS.

Dr. Joseph Siu-Kie Au
President, Hong Kong Precision Oncology Society
Chairman, 6th HKIOS Organizing Committee