Top doctors and government leaders collaborate

Next month, a dazzling array of multidisciplinary academics will highlight promising prostate imaging techniques at a meeting in Washington, DC.

The multimodality conference, organized by the nonprofit foundation AdMeTech, is set to run from Sept. 16 to 18, during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

Leaders from key government bodies, such as the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will take center stage on the final day of the event to address research funding and reimbursement.

Minimally invasive techniques could make it possible to shift prostate cancer care from surgical theatres to ambulatory clinics, but more research is needed to make this possible, said Dr. Faina Shtern, president and CEO of AdMeTech.

From 2002 to 2005, funding for prostate cancer research from the NCI and the Department of Defense combined amounted to about $1.25 billion, compared with $2.73 billion for breast cancer, according to government figures compiled by AdMeTech.

"Awareness impacts the level of funding for research and development, participation in trials, and regulatory decisions about reimbursement," Shtern said.

Meeting speakers include several imaging specialists such as:

• Dr. Clare Tempany, professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School;

• Dr. Hedvic Hricak, chair of the radiology department at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center;

• Dr. Mitchell Schnall, an associate professor of radiology at University of Pennsylvania Medical Center;

• Dr. Peter Choyke, director of the molecular imaging program, Center for Cancer research, NCI; and

• Dr. Ethan Halpern, director of the Prostate Diagnostic Center, Thomas Jefferson University.