The 2013 Miami Breast Cancer Conference

This year marks the 30th Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference (MBCC), a milestone for Daniel A. Osman, MD, and his wife Lois, who together launched the gathering in 1983 with fewer than 100 attendees and a focus on the then relatively new domain of lumpectomies in breast cancer treatment.

This year, oncologists and oncology healthcare professionals from around the globe traveled to the Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel to learn more about the latest advancements in breast cancer research and clinical practice. A priority that the Osmans set from the meeting’s earliest days—that much of what is presented helps shape practice as soon as the participants return home—remains a guiding principle of the conference.

In addition to thought-provoking presentations on such topics as prophylactic mastectomies and the ever-changing landscape of targeted therapies, the meeting featured several presentations on neoadjuvant therapy, recent developments in radiotherapy, and new surgical options, plus succinct updates of key research findings reported at the 2012 meetings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

The meeting also offered insights on the practical impacts of healthcare reform, including issues of cost and affordability, from University of Miami President Donna Shalala, PhD, who for eight years served as President Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), the longest-serving HHS Secretary in US history.

Meeting participants frequently go on to forge lifelong professional connections that help them to stay abreast of rapid changes in oncology practice during the 12 months between conferences, before returning “home” to Miami for next year’s conference, scheduled for March 6-9, 2014.