Hundreds Gather for The Society for Integrative Oncology's Annual Conference

Experts Speak on Diversity in Cancer Care

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Oct. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At the Society for Integrative Oncology's (SIO) Ninth International Conference, practitioners, researchers and patients from 37 states and 14 countries had the rare opportunity to learn from the world's experts during an educational and exciting three-day event.

The conference In Albuquerque, New Mexico, themed "Diversity in Cancer Care," included 50 speakers, 21 workshops, and participants from virtually every major cancer center in the U.S. and over 20 countries.

Over 320 participants converged to discover the latest advances in integrative oncology. The conference focused on myriad topics to support cancer patients integratively, including nutrition, web-based resources, acupuncture, herbal medicine, music, massage, and yoga. The keynote speakers — Harold Freeman, MD, Lorenzo Cohen, PhD, and Paul Stamets — discussed their cutting-edge work, and how it fits into traditional cancer treatment.

Conference attendees provided a constant update of the proceedings using Twitter and Facebook, while several members of the press provided more traditional coverage on sites like Medscape.

The New Mexico event was a unique opportunity for people to come together to learn, network, and get inspired to bring what they learned back to their own communities and institutions. "We are committed to growing the Society's base, and reaching out to conventional oncology providers to understand how integrative approaches can lead to better patient outcomes," says Susan Bauer-Wu, SIOs incoming president. To this end, SIO is starting a webinar series (http://integrativeonc.org/webinar) to explore issues such as  the metabolic effects of exercise, herb-drug interactions, acupuncture, and mind-body research. 

New Board Elected
At the conference, members elected a 2013 board and Executive Committee, led by incoming president Susan Bauer-Wu, PhD, FAAN, from Emory University. The new leadership, which hails from the nations most respected institutions, can be found at  found at http://bit.ly/sioboard.

About the Society for Integrative Oncology
The Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) (integrativeonc.org) is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary organization founded in 2003 for health professionals committed to the study and clinical application of evidence-based integrative therapies and natural products for cancer patients.  The mission of SIO is to advance evidence-based, comprehensive, integrative healthcare to improve the lives of people affected by cancer.

SIO's 10^th international conference will take place in October 20-23, 2013, in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Visit http://integrativeonc.org/10th-international-conference for more information.

SOURCE Society for Integrative Oncology