A successful education day in Onco-Dermatology

On the 2nd of December, we have successfully held our first “Skin effects of systemic anti-cancer therapies” education day at Westmead Hospital.
Education is one of the missions of the CTSR (Centre for Translational Skin Research), and were sharing our knowledge regarding the diagnosis and management of skin effects of systemic oncology medications with dermatologists, oncologists, trainees, students and allied health staff.
– Dr Germana Consuegra (Oncodermatology Fellow) talked about the skin effects of BRAF inhibitors and BRAF and MEK combination therapy. These medications revolucionised the outcome of patients with metastatic melanoma increasing the mean overall survival to more than 24 months, and we were part of the first clinical trials.
– Dr Rose Liu (Dermatology Research Fellow) talked about the skin effects of checkpoint inhibitors (pembrolizumab, nivolumab and ipilumumab). This is an ever-evolving field and fascinating new skin effects are being constantly published by our group and other teams.
– Dr Cathy Zhao (Dermatology Research Fellow) talked about targeted therapies for non-melanoma cancers e.g. EGFR inhibitors, mTOR inhibitors and kinase inhibitors. In our Oncodermatology clinics, we are receiving an increased number of patients treated with these molecules.
– A/Prof Fernandez-Penas (Head of Dermatology and Lead of the Oncodermatology unit) discussed the various skin effects of classical chemotherapies. The differential diagnosis between toxic erythema of chemotherapy, maculopapular exanthema, and SJS/TEN was discussed.
– Finally, Dr Shaun Chou (Dermatopathologist) reviewed the interesting histopathology of these skin effects.
A light brunch, kindly sponsored by Avene, allowed for networking amongst the dermatologists and oncologists, as well as trainees. The future of melanoma diagnosis and managment appeared to be a “hot topic” discussed amongst participants.
After the formal talks, there was an interactive case discussion session. The audiences enjoyed making “spot-diagnosis” and had fun reading histopathology slides. Management recommendations were also reinforced here.
All the team (in the photo) was very involved, but Cathy was the soul of the team. We have also great support from the rest of the CTSR team and the administrative staff from the Department of Dermatology at Westmead Hospital.
We have heard from some the participants very positive feedback regarding the education day. Next time, we are aiming to make this event even better!