Thema: Presse: Neuro-Oncology Update to be Held in Memphis

International Neuro-Oncology Update to be Held in Memphis

Expert Physicians from around the Globe to Discuss Emerging Treatments

Some of the greatest minds in neurosurgery and oncology will converge at the 3rd Annual International Neuro-Oncology Update to be held in Memphis on Monday, May 17 at the FedEx Institute of Technology at the University of Memphis. This conference will be the first international, interactive medical research conference of its kind in Memphis. A concurrent program covering neuro-oncology topics for clinical nurses will also be offered.
"We are very excited about this program that offers participants the
chance to hear first-hand from some of the top experts in neuro-oncology today on a number of topics in a unique and interactive forum at the brand-new FedEx Institute of Technology," said program director, Allen K. Sills, Jr., M.D., assistant professor, University of Tennessee Department of Neurosurgery and executive director of the Memphis Regional Brain Tumor Center. "By holding this conference in the state-of-the-art setting of the FedEx Institute ofn Technology, we have created a strong marriage between information technology and medical research and advances," said Dr. Sills.

Topics to be covered include:
- Promising new clinical trials for glioma
- State-of-the-art treatment for medulloblastoma
- Do environmental factors contribute to brain tumors?
- New molecular targets for brain tumor therapy
- Surgery vs. radiation therapy - which is superior for metastases to the
spine?
- Giving bad news to patients and their families - the caregiver´s
ultimate challenge
- Panel discussion of challenging cases

"We are on the cusp of some very exciting discoveries that offer new hope
to those with brain tumors," said Dr. Sills. "The physicians we´re pulling
together for this conference are some of the most widely respected researchers and clinicians in the world."

Seminar speakers include:

- Roy Patchell, M.D., University of Kentucky, a pioneer on the role of
surgery and radiation for cancer that spreads to the spine and brain;
- Patrick Kelly, M.D., New York University, a leader in the field of
merging technology and surgery techniques;
- James Rutka, M.D., University of Toronto, an expert in pediatric tumors
who has done pioneering work in the treatment of medulloblastoma, the
most common childhood brain tumor;
- Michael Prados, M.D., University of California at San Francisco, a
national leader in new trials for brain tumor therapy;
- John Laterra, M.D., Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
a widely respected researcher on mechanisms by which brain tumors take over the blood supply to the brain;
- Glenn Lesser, M.D., Wake Forest University, a national leader in
combined clinical trials;
- Kathleen Egan, DSc., Vanderbilt University, who is involved in an
epidemiology study with Methodist Healthcare in Memphis, to find out
why the Mid-South has one of the highest brain tumor death rates in the
country, and whether environment plays a role; and
- Walter Baile, M.D., M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, an international
expert on grief and physician/patient interaction.

Also participating via teleconference will be physicians from the
Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden and physicians from Frenchay
Hospital in Bristol, United Kingdom. Sponsors of the program are Methodist University Hospital´s Neuroscience Institute in Memphis, Semmes-Murphey Neurological and Spine Institute, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center Department of Neurosurgery, and the Memphis Regional Brain Tumor Center.
The Methodist Neuroscience Institute, located at Methodist University
Hospital in the Memphis Medical Center, is where more neurosurgeries are
performed than at any other hospital in Tennessee-almost 5,000 a year and
growing. Led by nationally recognized neurosurgeons, Dr. Allen K. Sills Jr.
and Dr. Jon Robertson, the Brain Tumor Center at Methodist University Hospitalis the site of more neurosurgeries than any other hospital in Tennessee.