Think Tank on Advancing Gastric Cancer Prevention
, by Elise Tookmanian, Ph.D.
Group photo outside the NCI Shady Grove campus.
On May 17th at the Shady Grove Campus, the NCI hosted the first Think Tank on Advancing Gastric Cancer Prevention, a forum for an international multidisciplinary group of gastric cancer experts to review the state of the science and collaboratively identify critical knowledge gaps. This meeting was organized in response to the 2022 CTAC Gastric and Esophageal Cancers Working Group report. Over 200 extramural and intramural clinicians, researchers, and patient advocates attended the all-day event, both in-person and virtually. The NIH Director, Monica Bertagnolli, and the NCI Director, Kimryn Rathmell, acknowledged the opportunity to accelerate progress on the gastric cancer agenda by working together across disciplines and by engaging multiple stakeholders.
Gastric (stomach) cancer is a leading cause of death in the US, with non-White individuals exhibiting the highest incidence and mortality rates. The morning sessions covered the current state of clinical and epidemiological gastric cancer prevention and control research and resources in ten-minute talks (recording available here).
In the afternoon, ten small groups participated in discussions to identify scientific opportunities within different research areas that will best serve at-risk populations. The in-person participants then voted for one opportunity from each research area that they believe will make the greatest impact on reduction of gastric cancer risk and mortality. These opportunities will be published in a meeting summary to inform national and international research agendas in gastric cancer prevention and control.
M. Constanza Camargo, Ph.D., Earl Stadtman investigator in the Metabolic Epidemiology Branch (MEB) co-chaired the Trans-NCI Planning Committee for this event alongside Ellen Richmond, Deputy Chief and Program Officer, and Asad Umar, Chief, from the Gastrointestinal and Other Cancers Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP).
Members of the Trans-NCI Planning Committee include:
- Christian C. Abnet, Ph.D., M.P.H., Branch Director and investigator, MEB
- Philip E. Castle, Ph.D., M.P.H., Director, DCP and investigator, Clinical Genetics Branch
- Matthew Young, Program Director, DCP
- Phil Daschner, Program Director, Division of Cancer Biology
- Tram Kim Lam, Branch Director, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences
- Tiffany Wallace, Program Director, Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities,
- Satish Gopal, Director, Center for Global Health (CGH)
- Cecilia Monge, Assistant Research Physician, Center for Cancer Research, and CGH Advisor