This year, the American Association for Cancer Education (AACE) will host its 42nd Annual Meeting in Clearwater, Florida, from October 20-22, 2008.  For the first time, AACE will hold its conference jointly with the Cancer Patient Education Network (CPEN). The conference theme focuses on “Cancer Education from Bench to Bedside to Community Care." This theme was chosen with the hope that patient educators, researchers, clinicians, and public health practitioners will gain a renewed appreciation of the need and potential for more quickly bringing research findings from basic science to clinical and community care of cancer. Interdisciplinary education is a vital component in this effort to bridge cancer prevention and control from bench to bedside to community and back.

The overall goals of the meeting are for cancer educators to:

• Learn about innovative interventions and methods to successfully educate cancer care professionals, patients, their families and the public in the areas of:
• Cancer Research - Basic, Clinical, Behavioral and Community
• Cancer Prevention- Risk Factor Reduction (such as smoking), Screening, Nutrition
• Cancer Treatment – Chemotherapeutic, Immunological, Radiological, Surgical
• Supportive Cancer Care - Communication Skills, Access to care and services, including literacy
• Palliative Cancer Care - Pain and Symptom Control
• Survivorship
• Develop new skills in the design, development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of their cancer education programs
• Identify federal and non-federal sources of support for their education programs
• Renew their sense of professional enthusiasm for the field

The meeting is being developed to meet the expressed needs of the AACE membership, both from their evaluation of the 41st meeting and in response to the survey identifying the “most important” aspects of the meeting that would meet the needs of the members. The evaluation of the 41st meeting confirms that the meeting planners effectively assess member’ needs and develop a program to meet them.  CPEN leaders have joined the efforts to plan this meeting.

Role of the American Association for Cancer Education

For over 60 years, the American Association for Cancer Education (AACE) has been the meeting place for the interdisciplinary leadership from the world’s academic medical centers who are responsible for developing, implementing, and evaluating cancer education programs. For the past several years our sister organization, the European Association for Cancer Education (EACE), has worked with us to meet these goals. Now, members of the Cancer Patient Education Network (CPEN) are also joining our educational activities.

Our members’ innovative ideas and research advances are published in our Journal of Cancer Education, as well as in other leading medical, educational, and cancer journals. Each year our annual meeting has a theme that highlights an important aspect of cancer education.

We trust you will enjoy this year’s presentations, workshops, symposia, plenary, concurrent sessions, and posters delivered by leading educators from around the world.

Patricia Mullan, PhD, Co-chair, Annual Meeting Planning Committee
Frank Ferris, M.D., Co-chair, Annual Meeting Planning Committee
Miriam Bell, Chair, Local Arrangements

Needs Assesment

The scope of suffering from cancer is reflected in the prediction that 1,444,920 new cancer cases and 559,660 deaths from cancer will occur in the United States in 2007.  This mortality rate represents 1,500 deaths each day. In the U.S., cancer remains second only to heart disease as the leading cause of death; for persons under 85 years of age, cancer accounts for more deaths than heart disease. Evidence of continuing health disparity within this experience includes the two-fold greater death rates for African Americans, compared to Whites, from prostate, stomach, and cervical cancers. Conspicuous disparity is also evident in the finding that all minority populations, except Asian American/Pacific Islander women, have a greater probability of dying from cancer within five years of diagnosis, after accounting for differences in stage at diagnosis.  Evidence of the extent to which cancer spans borders includes the lifetime risk of dying from cancer. In developed countries, the lifetime risk is Global rates of cancer show that the lifetime risk of dying from cancer is 7.2 for men and 4.8 for women; in developing countries, the risk of dying from cancer is 6.1 for men and 4.9 for women.

The encouraging news is that the number of cancer deaths in the United States decreased, for the second year in a row. This triumph broke the pattern established since 1930 - when systematic tracking of US cancer statistics was first established – in which the U.S. witnessed increasing death rates from cancer each year. Notably, this breakthrough has occurred in the context of a progressively aging US population. Sustaining and enhancing these achievements requires continuing efforts in cancer education.

Education in the context of clinical translational research challenges us to find new approaches to cancer education that more quickly and effectively bring the findings of basic science research to inform care at the bedside and community. Translational research in cancer includes studies focused on applying discoveries generated during research in the laboratory to clinical trials, and developing and implementing best practices in disease prevention and intervention in the community.  Cancer education promoting clinical translation research will require approaches to training and mentoring that enable new investigators to progress through an increasingly complex research system.  Education for clinical translation also increases the need to train interdisciplinary teams that represent the spectrum of medical research, patient education, and community-based interventions. 

The annual conference of the American Association for Cancer Education is a respected source for information about innovative and efficient cancer education. Many notable programs of effective cancer education have been disseminated through the community of health and medical educators at the American Association for Cancer Education.  This includes relationship-centered approaches to patient care, the Witness Program, and community-based programs to prevent cancer and recruit participants in clinical trials, as well as technology-supported education of health professionals, patients, and the public.

This year, the American Association for Cancer Education extends the potential scope of its impact by holding its meeting in collaboration with the Cancer Patient Education Network (CPEN). The Cancer Patient Education Network (CPEN) is a group of Health care Professionals who share experiences and best practices in all aspects of cancer patient education. The overall mission of CPEN is to promote and provide models of excellence, in patient, family, and community education, across the continuum of care. CPEN works in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute's Office of Education and Special Initiatives. In addition, the AACE conference continues its collaboration with the European Association of Cancer Education. Each year, the leadership and members of the EACE participate in the AACE program. The joint AACE-CPEN-EACE conference extends the health professions education community from which we can learn and share best practices in cancer education, making best use of our educational efforts.

The power to disseminate knowledge shared at the annual AACE conference is enhanced through the existence of the association’s relationship with the Journal of Cancer Education.  This peer-reviewed journal publishes abstracts from the conference. In addition, the editor of the Journal provides highlights of the educational conference.

Click here to download AACE 2007 evaluation information.