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Continuing Medical Education

Accreditation Statement 

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education activities for physicians.  

Credit Designation Statement

AACR has designated this live activity for a maximum of 17.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.  

Credit certification for individual sessions may vary, dependent upon compliance with the ACCME Accreditation Criteria. The final number of credits may vary from the maximum number indicated above. 

Claiming (CME) Credit 

Physicians and other health care professionals seeking AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM for this  live continuing medical education activity must complete the online CME Request for Credit Survey by October 21, 2024. Certificates will only be issued to those who complete the survey. Your CME certificate will be sent to you via email after the completion of the activity. 

Request For Credit Survey

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 17.50 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.   

Printable List of CME-Designated Sessions (Available Soon)

To receive ABIM MOC, participants must request MOC in the CME Request for Credit Survey and complete all questions. Once these steps are completed, AACR will submit your completion information via the ACCME’s Program and Activity Reporting System for the purpose of granting MOC points. 

STATEMENT OF EDUCATIONAL NEED, TARGET AUDIENCE, AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Annually, an estimated 15,780 children from birth to 19 years old are diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. About one in 285 children in the U.S. will receive a cancer diagnosis before reaching the age of 20. The majority of cancer therapies are developed for adults, and their efficacy in treating childhood cancers remains largely untested. Between 1948 and 2003, regulators approved 120 new cancer therapies, yet only 15 included information regarding pediatric use. The enactment of the Creating Hope Act in 2016 sparked renewed interest in developing treatments specifically for children with cancer. As a result, there is an urgent need to educate physicians and researchers on the latest therapeutic approaches emerging from recent research. 

Pediatric cancers differ markedly from adult cancers. For instance, childhood cancers typically occur in different areas of the body. Leukemias, along with brain and other central nervous system tumors, are the predominant types of childhood cancers, comprising more than half of new cases. Survival rates for childhood cancers vary by cancer type and other factors. Furthermore, most childhood cancers cannot be prevented, and the precise causes of many childhood cancers remain unknown. Unlike adult cancers, childhood cancers are not strongly linked to environmental or lifestyle risk factors but are more dependent on genetic factors. Given this genetic predisposition, translating recent advances in genomics and epigenomics into clinical practice to create effective treatments is crucial. Additionally, immunotherapy approaches and therapies targeting biological drivers are significant. The importance of translational research and clinical trials is underscored by reductions in mortality rates for several childhood cancers, attributable to improved treatments and high participation rates in clinical trials. 

Recent data shows a persistent gap in knowledge concerning pediatric oncology, particularly in understanding the unique biological mechanisms of childhood cancers. Advances in pediatric cancer research, including molecular characterization and targeted therapy, offer promising directions but require greater focus and resource allocation. This conference will assemble leading researchers in genomics/epigenomics, developmental biology, immunotherapies, and cellular mechanisms to discuss how these insights translate into novel therapeutic strategies for childhood cancers. It will also explore the opportunities and challenges in pediatric oncology translational science and clinical trials. 

To address pediatric cancers effectively, it is crucial to educate physicians about the factors involved in the development of childhood cancers and how basic research findings can be efficiently translated into clinical settings to develop new therapeutic approaches. This conference will bring together a diverse group of physicians, scientists, health professionals, and healthcare leaders to discuss the latest findings in their fields, foster collaborative interdisciplinary interactions and partnerships, and stimulate the development of new research and clinical practices. 

This activity would be most appropriate for physicians and health care workers who work with pediatric cancer patients. 

After participating in this CME activity, physicians should be able to:  

  1. Articulate how to apply genomics data to identify therapeutic targets for pediatric cancers; 
  1. Compare various precision oncology approaches for childhood cancer patients; 
  1. Evaluate immune-based therapies for childhood cancer; 
  1. Describe approaches to identify cancer predisposition and strategies for surveillance in pediatric cancer; 
  1. Assess the utility of targeted therapies for pediatric cancers;  
  1. Compare the current clinical trials practices and new methodologies 
  1. Identify cancer treatment disparities in pediatric cancers 

Disclosure Statement 

It is the policy of the AACR that the information presented at AACR CME activities will be unbiased and based on scientific evidence. To help participants make judgments about the presence of bias, AACR will provide information that Scientific Program Committee members and speakers have disclosed all financial relationships they have with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products or services used by or on patients. All of the relevant financial relationships for these individuals have been mitigated.  

Planner and Speaker Financial Disclosure Index

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF FINANCIAL OR OTHER SUPPORT

The AACR gratefully acknowledges the following commercial supporters for their Professional Educational Grants:

  • Pfizer

Questions about CME? 

Please read our frequently asked questions, If you still have questions. contact the Office of CME at (215) 440-9300 or [email protected].