I am deeply honored and privileged to be sharing with you my experience at this year’s CAPhO Conference as the recipient of the CAPhO Conference Student and Resident Travel Grant. This conference was held in person at the Marriott Beausejour, Moncton, New Brunswick, and I had the pleasure of visiting this beautiful and welcoming city. My first CAPhO conference was extremely rewarding, and it offered me a wealth of new oncology education, valuable networking opportunities, and necessary professional development tools to succeed in my growing career.
I attended this CAPhO conference with a unique perspective, embodying the roles of a pharmacist, a researcher, and an industry resident. This multifaceted viewpoint allowed me to gain valuable insights applicable to each of my roles. The conference’s overarching theme, “keeping up with the advances in oncology pharmacy”, resonated deeply with me as a life-long learner with a profound interest in oncology. At this conference, I had the ability to learn new pharmacological treatments across various therapeutic areas such as breast cancer and multiple myeloma, while also gaining insights into the challenges within our healthcare systems in providing care for specific patient populations. This conference additionally provided pharmacists and pharmacy technicians with tools that can assist them in the management of their patients such as the TEND Toolkit.
The conference kicked off with an interactive symposium on bispecific antibodies for multiple myeloma patients and the role of pharmacist, which was one of the most impactful sessions for me. Multiple myeloma is still an incurable disease that requires continuous new lines of therapies for relapsing/ refractory (RRMM) patients, and it is a challenging disease for both patients and practitioners. Currently, the discussion around novel bispecific antibodies is a hot topic and it offers patients new hope for targeted therapies. However, these new molecules can be difficult to prescribe, monitor and treat for adverse events, and hence, pharmacists need to receive additional education on management. This session was extremely insightful where we got to understand more about how the T-cell redirecting therapies fits in our RRMM Canadian therapeutic landscape and how to safely manage and support patient’s management on bispecific antibodies. The topic of bispecific antibodies and T-cell redirecting therapies were discussed during various CAPhO symposiums, really highlighting the current evolution of treatment options.
The clinical symposiums covered a diverse range of topics, from management of CDK4/6 inhibitor treatments to balancing cardio-oncology therapies, highlighting the crucial role of pharmacists in different therapeutic area. The unique symposiums on pharmacist’s burnout, and the clinical considerations on treating for LGBTQIA+ and Indigenous patient populations underscored the importance of addressing societal pressures and social determinants of health in patient care. I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the round table discussions on best practices for managing infusion-related reactions with anti-cancer therapy, where pharmacists from different provinces and practicing sites provided each other with novel premedication protocols, tools, and advice. The conference’s comprehensive approach provided value and insights for attendees from various backgrounds, including industry representatives, hospital pharmacists, and community pharmacists.
My dedication to oncology has further deepened following my attendance at this CAPhO Conference. I had the privileged opportunity to meet like-minded professionals who share a similar goal to improving the healthcare, access, and management of oncology patients. This conference has provided me with new perspectives and strategies to implement in my own practices as a community pharmacist and during my oncology residency at Sanofi. I cannot wait to attend the joint ISOPP-CAPhO Symposium 2025, where CAPhO will elevate its conference to an international level, marking the next exciting chapter for the organization.