New cancer therapies and voluntary assisted dying

An overview of 2 important and developing topics: new cancer therapies and voluntary assisted dying.

This session will provide GPs with information about current cancer therapies – traditional chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy – including:

• how they work 
• how they are given 
• how patients are selected for treatment 
• examples of cancer types for whichnew treatments have made the biggest impact on prognosis 
• common side effects seen in the community setting 
• other considerations, such as vaccination recommendations and potential drug interactions. 

The session will also summarise the voluntary assisted dying (VAD) eligibility criteria, access to the program to date, and considerations when responding if a person asks about VAD. 

It will include information on how and where to refer, and how to get involved to the level you feel comfortable, including what training is required if you wish to provide VAD assessments. 

Speakers

Dr Hui-Li Wong is a medical oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and honorary clinical research fellow at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. Her areas of expertise are gastrointestinal cancers and cancers of unknown primary.  

Her research focus is on the use of real-world data to examine treatment and outcomes in routine practice, facilitate research and improve the quality of care for patients. Over the past 10 years, she has been involved in running a large multi-centre registry collecting comprehensive treatment and outcome data for colorectal cancer.  

She also led the implementation of the registry-based randomised trials program, part of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre’s research initiative, examining the feasibility of this pragmatic clinical trial approach to increase trial participation for cancer patients. She is currently part of a team of investigators working on a new model of care to support the earlier diagnosis of cancers of unknown primary. 

Ms Susan Jury is Victorian state-wide voluntary assisted dying navigator service manager. This service provides information and support to anyone impacted by voluntary assisted dying – individuals, families, clinicians and health services, supportive and non-supportive. Susan is a clinical nurse consultant with an extensive health program development background and a master’s degree in public health. 

Learning outcomes:

By the end of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Describe broadly the different types of cancer therapies used in current practice 
• Explain how biomarkers may impact on prognosis and treatment selection 
• Recognise targeted and immunotherapy side effects that occur in the community 
• Apply the eligibility criteria to access voluntary assisted dying in Victoria 
• Refer a person who asks about voluntary assisted dying