'30-50% of Cancers Are Preventable'... National Cancer Center Holds Cancer Prevention Symposium

The National Cancer Center announced on the 31st that it will hold the 15th International Symposium on the 19th of next month at the International Conference Hall on the 8th floor of the National Cancer Prevention and Screening Building in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, inviting top domestic and international experts in the field of cancer prevention. Cancer prevention is considered a very important field, as the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that 30-50% of cancers are preventable.

National Cancer Center Cancer Prevention International Symposium Poster
Photo by National Cancer Center

This symposium will feature domestic and international experts, including Dr. Elisabete Weiderpass, head of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) under WHO, who will introduce the latest insights under the theme "Cancer Prevention, New Challenges and Solutions." It is organized to bring together experts from various cancer prevention fields to explore the future direction of cancer research and national cancer management.

The symposium will begin with a keynote lecture on "Cancer Prevention in Korea" by Seo Hong-gwan, director of the National Cancer Center, followed by a special lecture on "Cancer Prevention and Management Research Strategies" by Dr. Weiderpass.

In the first of four sessions, presentations will be given on the representative cancer risk factors "smoking, diet, and obesity," including ▲ Smoking and Cancer Prevention (Professor Cho Sung-il, Seoul National University) ▲ Diet and Cancer Prevention (Professor Sung Mi-kyung, Sookmyung Women's University) ▲ Obesity, Physical Activity, and Cancer Prevention (Professor Oh Sang-woo, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital). The second session will focus on the cancer risk factor "infection," with presentations on ▲ Helicobacter pylori (Professor Choi Il-joo, National Cancer Center) ▲ Prevention of Liver Cancer in Patients Infected with Chronic Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) or Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) (Vice President Yu Ming-rong, National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan) ▲ Human Papillomavirus (HPV) (Professor Lee Shin-hwa, Asan Medical Center).

The third session will cover "occupational factors of cancer, chemoprevention, and alcohol consumption," with presentations on ▲ Occupation and Cancer Prevention (Invited Professor Baek Do-myung, National Cancer Center) ▲ Chemoprevention for Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (Professor Muto Michihiro, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan) ▲ Alcohol Consumption Limits for Cancer Prevention, focusing on the revision of Canadian alcohol consumption guidelines (Professor Peter Butt, University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine, Canada).

The final session will feature a panel discussion on "Future Directions of Cancer Prevention." Experts including Professor Ki Moran from the Graduate School of the National Cancer Center, Professor Park Soo-kyung from Seoul National University, Professor Kim Tae-il from Yonsei University, Professor Park Sang-min from Seoul National University, and Kim Han-sook, Director of the Disease Policy Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, will participate in the discussion.

Director Seo Hong-gwan stated, "This symposium will be a meaningful occasion where the world's top cancer prevention experts gather to share global policy trends on various important factors in cancer prevention such as smoking, infection, alcohol consumption, diet, and occupation, and discuss the outlook for Korea's cancer prevention policies." He added, "Taking this symposium as an opportunity, we will widely promote the importance of cancer prevention, lead campaigns and policy proposals to improve cancer prevention awareness, and spearhead research related to cancer prevention."

The symposium will be held both online and offline simultaneously. It will be broadcast live on YouTube and Zoom on the day, and anyone can watch it. Pre-registration is available online, and participation is free of charge. For other inquiries related to the symposium, please contact the Education and Training Team at the National Cancer Center.