Jun 3, 2020   SOURCE: PR NewsWire

Online Video Education Series from SITC and PlatformQ Health to Better Equip HCPs Managing Cancer Patients Undergoing Immunotherapy

BOSTON, June 3, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- PlatformQ Health Education (PQHE) and the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) will launch a four-part CME series to educate HCPs on selecting checkpoint inhibitors. The series, Immunotherapy Best Practices: Overcoming Clinical Challenges and Enhancing Treatment in Solid Tumors, will feature a series of live-online broadcasts starting June 10, 2020, and continuing throughout the summer on PQHE's oncology learning channel, OMedLive. An enduring version of each live, online activity will be available both on OMedLive and SITC Cancer Immunotherapy connectED through early 2021 for HCPs to view and earn free CME credit.

The first session, Refining Patient Selection for Biomarker-Directed Immunotherapy, will air live online at 12pm ET on Wednesday June 10th. Participants will hear from Dr. Roy Herbst, MD, PhD, Ensign Professor of Medicine (Oncology) at Yale School of Medicine, and Dr. Ignacio Wistuba, MD, Professor and Chair, Department of Translational Molecular Pathology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Herbst recently presented findings from a study showing profound benefits with targeted therapy for patients with early stage NSCLC at the virtual Scientific Program at the 2020 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

This session will focus on utility of companion diagnostic tests; identifying when PD-L1 status is necessary for treatment decisions; the relevance of MSI, dMMR, and TMB testing; a pathology-oncology perspective on best practices for PD-L1 testing; updates on current and emerging biomarkers, and more.

Learning objectives for the program includes: 

    --  Examining the variety of biomarkers associated with immune checkpoint
        inhibitor therapy
    --  Selecting appropriate, evidence-based testing modalities for patients
        who are potential candidates for immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy and
        interpreting testing results effectively

HCP participants will have the opportunity to interact with and ask questions of expert panelists prior to and during each live broadcast through a live Q&A tool. Pre-session questions can be submitted online on the QBoard for the first activity.

Additional activities in the series will include: 

    --  Optimizing Management of Adverse Events Associated with Immunotherapy
    --  Life After Immunotherapy: Coordinating Care and Survivorship Plans
    --  Evidence-based Updates on Checkpoint Inhibitors in the Metastatic
        Setting: Diving into Emerging Combinations

"Immune checkpoint inhibitors are currently standard of care for a wide range of solid tumors, and the indications for these agents will expand as numerous clinical trials report out," shared SITC President Mario Sznol, MD. "SITC welcomes the opportunity to partner with PlatformQ Health Education in creating and delivering up-to-date educational information for clinicians which will cover the extensive emerging clinical evidence in this area. Online education is especially important now, when travel to in-person conferences or workshops may not be an option."

The team at PlatformQ Health Education recognizes that the healthcare industry is under tremendous pressure to continue to educate and support HCPs amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. CEO Robert Rosenbloom shared "Creating and disseminating timely education becomes more important as each day passes. In the wake of COVID-19, HCPs are looking even more to online education to help keep them up to date."

This activity is supported by educational grants from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene Corporation, Genentech, and Tesaro, A GSK Company.

About SITC
Established in 1984, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) is a nonprofit organization of medical professionals dedicated to improving cancer patient outcomes by advancing the development, science and application of cancer immunotherapy and tumor immunology. SITC is comprised of influential basic and translational scientists, practitioners, health care professionals, government leaders and industry professionals around the globe. Through educational initiatives that foster scientific exchange and collaboration among leaders in the field, SITC aims to one day make the word "cure" a reality for cancer patients everywhere. Learn more about SITC, our educational offerings and other resources at sitcancer.org and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.

About PlatformQ Health Education
PlatformQ Health Education is the leading provider of interactive digital medical education for clinicians, patients and caregivers. To improve patient care, PlatformQ Health Education creates video-first educational modules with premier partners, so learners can better understand conditions, available treatment options, and the latest research. The company's proprietary platform allows participants to engage in real-time discussion with scientific, research and patient care experts - and the integrated learning solution enables advocates, administrators, health systems and plans, foundations, societies, member organizations and associations to measure the impact of their education.

SOURCE PlatformQ Health