At ASCO, a major research meeting, cancer data briefly took backseat to grief

CHICAGO — At every annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the congregation of oncologists scrutinizes data on survival and mortality, among other measures of the care they provide. But comparatively few conversations focus on the grief and loss that is inherent in the work of oncologists. That changed a bit this year. 

In his opening address, the organization’s outgoing president, Eric Small, spoke about his partner, University of California, San Francisco, oncologist Amy Lin, who died in December. She had metastatic clear cell ovarian cancer, a rare disease with few treatment options. Small also brought a different kind of specialist to ASCO’s main stage: David Kessler, an expert on grief and loss, who gave a talk about compassionate end-of-life care.

STAT sat down with Small to talk about the meeting, about Lin, and about how loss has changed his perspective on oncology. His “presidential theme” for the year was “The Science and Practice of Translation: Improving Cancer Outcomes Worldwide.”