Announcement regarding the 5th Sapporo Conference for Palliative and Supportive Care in Cancer

Toward a New Era in Palliative Care in Cancer

The Sapporo Conference for Palliative and Supportive Care in Cancer (SCPSC), regarded as the “Olympics of Palliative Care in Cancer,” is pleased to announce that the program for the 5th SCPSC, to be held in July 2026, has now been finalized.
Over the past few years, I have spoken in various forums about the fact that research on, and practice of palliative care is reaching a turning point. One reason for this is the establishment of facilities and researchers providing specialized palliative care specific to various diseases, such as cancer, intractable neurological diseases, chronic heart failure, and the recent COVID-19 infection, as well as undertaking original scientific research on these diseases. The other is the existence of facilities and medical professionals who consciously provide non-specific palliative care for all illnesses, in accordance with the existing conditions in the country or region and the philosophy of the facility. This latter fact has great significance for both global health and medical administration.

The 5th SCPSC has attempted to provide innovative programs on palliative oncology and psycho-oncology, taking into consideration the current state of both. Further, as expected, we have been able to attract innovative researchers from each field. In other words, we have now passed the turning point and have entered a new era of research and practice in palliative care. We asked the following associates to plan the four basic symposiums:

1) The symposium on opioids was planned by Dr. Russell Portenoy and Dr. David Hui,

2) that covering palliative cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and including immunotherapy was designed by Dr. Areej El-Jawahri and Dr. Shunichi Nakagawa,

3) the symposium on psycho-oncology was designed by Dr. Friedrich Stiefel, Dr. Sarah Dauchy and Dr. Camilla Zimmermann, and

4) the symposium on euthanasia was planned by Dr. Luc Deliens and Dr. David Currow, with each symposium expected to provide novel content. Please visit the SCPSC website for details.
http://www.sapporoconference.com/en/general_info/schedule.html

As stated in the IRS-SCPSC News Letter published on December 22, 2023. IRS-News Letter,presentations for general topics will be organized into two parts: oral sessions and poster sessions, with plans for an educational event involving experts. We look forward to receiving many presentations. We have also scheduled an educational lecture on “Comparative Cultural Studies of Spirituality and Spiritual Care” by Dr. Karen Steinhauser. And an educational plenary lecture by Prof. Mark Taubert titled “Future Care Planning – European perspectives on better planning for palliative care patients“ will be held.

Moreover, a special lecture will also be given by Dr. Herwig Czech on “The Lancet Commission on medicine, Nazism, and the Holocaust: historical evidence, implications for today, teaching for tomorrow.” I believe this theme will provide important insights not only into palliative care, medicine, and healthcare, but also into the chaos of the modern world.

Every three years, the SCPSC brings together the world’s leading experts in palliative care in cancer to discuss important issues in a non-competitive manner. For this reason, it is affectionately referred to as the “Olympics of Palliative Care in Cancer.” We look forward to the participation of many people involved in palliative oncology and psycho-oncology, as well as those involved in the provision of palliative care for diseases other than cancer.