AASLD provides an opportunity for registrants at The Liver Meeting® to attend independently organized symposia supported by the pharmaceutical industry. These symposia will take place on Saturday, November 1; Sunday, November 2; and Monday, November 3 following scheduled educational events. Below are the approved symposia, listed by date, along with the goals of each program. Please contact the individual indicated with each symposium for additional details.
Each of the symposia organizers has made a financial contribution in support of the educational mission of AASLD. This support allows symposia organizers access to The Liver Meeting®'s attendees before the meeting by way of mail promotions, and on the specified evenings during the meeting. They also make many features of The Liver Meeting® possible and help maintain reasonable registration fees. This support is gratefully acknowledged. This acknowledgement, however, does not constitute an endorsement of any product, nor AASLD oversight or endorsement of the content of the program. These programs are not affiliated with AASLD.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Cases in Point: Risk Factors, Surveillance Strategies and Treatment Options for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)
Supported by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals
Organized by Clinical Care Options, LLC
CME provided by Postgraduate Institute for Medicine
Salon 1 – 7, Marriott San Francisco
On completion of this activity, participants should be able to:
• Discuss the clinical implications and importance of surveillance strategies in monitoring patient populations at high risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
• Describe the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to optimizing outcomes in patients with HCC.
• Identify the potential impact of novel targeted agents in the treatment of advanced HCC based on current clinical guideline recommendations.
• Recount recent clinical trial results regarding the clinical potential of multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors in the treatment of advanced HCC.
• Discuss ongoing research in multimodality treatment approaches for HCC.
For more information, contact Amy Goldman at 585-533-1874 or agoldman@clinicaloptions.com.
Aiming High - Striving for Antigen Clearance in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B
Supported by F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.
Organized by Elements Communications Ltd.
CME provided by Centre for Bio-Medical Communications, Inc.
Salon 8&9, Marriott San Francisco
At the conclusion of this activity, attendees should be able to:
• Understand the following: the life cycle of HBV; the biologic importance of ccc DNA; the virologic markers of acute and chronic hepatitis B, and the frequency of spontaneous HBsAg seroconversion in chronic HBV infection.
• Understand the different implications of HBeAg and HBsAg seroconversion in terms of qualitative response to antiviral therapy.
• Understand the implications of HBsAg seroconversion in terms of future health of the infected individual.
• Understand the rationale for use of immunomodulatory therapy with interferon.
• Understand the importance of new data on quantification of HBeAg and HBsAg in patients treated with pegylated interferon.
• Appreciate how a combined approach of baseline and on-treatment antigen quantification can be used to predict response, better determine duration of treatment and optimize interferon-based therapy.
• Understand possible therapeutic strategies that can be used to achieve higher rates of HBsAg seroconversion in the future.
For more information, contact Wendy Burgess at 44-1959-568-150 or wendyburgess@elementscommunications.com.
Debating the Key Clinical Questions for the Management of Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Infection
Supported by Schering-Plough Corporation
Organized by Curatio CME Institute LLC
CME provided by Curatio CME Institute LLC
Golden Gate A-C, Marriott San Francisco
At the end of this activity, participants should be able to:
• List the predictors of treatment response and methods to optimize SVR.
• Describe the advantages and limitations of long-term therapy with PEG-IFN + RBV.
• Identify treatment strategies for relapsing or nonresponding patients.
• Apply current and emerging clinical data to optimize treatment success.
• Assess the clinical utility of HCV protease and polymerase inhibitors.
For more information, contact Danielle Hesser at 610-363-1619 ext 127 or danielle.hesser@curatiocme.com.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
HBV Providers' Choice in "PRIME" Time: Addressing Issues of Patient Populations, Resistance, Individualized Treatment, Management, and Efficacy
Supported by Bristol-Myers Squibb
Organized by Clinical Care Options, LLC
CME provided by Postgraduate Institute for Medicine
Salon 8, Marriott San Francisco
On completion of this activity, participants should be able to:
• Describe the strategies used to decide who and how to treat different patient populations.
• Identify patient management factors that are associated with avoiding HBV treatment resistance and ensuring durability of response.
• Summarize recent HBV treatment data, including efficacy, and its potential impact on treatment considerations for individualizing HBV treatment.
• Describe different potential management strategies used for suboptimal responses to HBV treatment.
For more information, contact Amy Goldman at 585-533-1874 or agoldman@clinicaloptions.com.
The HCV Council Investigations: Converging Evidence With Clinical Opinion
Supported by Roche Pharmaceuticals
Organized by Consensus Medical Communications
CME provided by Medical Education Resources, Inc.
Salon 9 – 15, Marriott San Francisco
At the end of this activity, participants will be able to:
• Identify clinical scenarios where viral kinetics-driven decision making regarding treatment duration is optimal for patient outcomes.
• Evaluate current standards for treatment endpoints and discuss the significance of sustained virologic response.
• Discuss the role of maintenance PEG-IFN therapy in the treatment of viral non-responders.
• Identify evidence-based approaches to addressing poor response factors in HCV treatment, including ribavirin-induced anemia and insulin resistance.
• Determine the appropriateness of doses of PEG-IFN and ribavirin beyond standard-of-care to improve poor antiviral response.
• Discuss the potential future role of small molecule therapy in the treatment of HCV.
For more information, contact Jeannine Strampel at 303-551-9471 or jstrampel@consensusmedical.com.
Brainstorming With the Experts - Practical Approaches to the Complex World of HCV
Supported by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Organized by Projects In Knowledge, Inc.
CME provided by Projects In Knowledge, Inc.
Golden Gate A-C, Marriott San Francisco
After participating in this activity, the clinician should be able to:
• Evaluate standard-of-care therapies and their shortcomings in the treatment and management of HCV infection in order to optimize viral eradication in HCV-infected patients, thereby reducing disease burden.
• Identify factors associated with nonresponse, null response, and relapse in patients receiving anti-HCV treatment in order to select and apply strategies that improve treatment response.
• Assess the potential of emerging HCV therapeutic strategies for improving treatment response and outcomes in HCV-infected patients by analyzing preliminary efficacy and safety data of the protease and polymerase inhibitors.
For more information, contact Alicia Zambri at 973-200-2524 or a.zambri@projectsinknowledge.com.
Monday, November 3, 2008
HCC Management: From Guidelines to Clinical Practice
Supported by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals
Organized by Clinical Care Options, LLC
CME provided by Postgraduate Institute for Medicine
Golden Gate A&B, Marriott San Francisco
On completion of this activity, participants should be able to:
• Summarize clinical practice guidelines and recommendations for the optimal treatment of HCC.
• Discuss the safety, efficacy, and tolerability of approved targeted therapy for the treatment of HCC.
• Describe ongoing research directions with novel agents and recommendations for clinical trial designs for HCC.
For more information, contact Amy Goldman at 585-533-1874 or agoldman@clinicaloptions.com.
To Arrest a Virus: Interactive Case Study Discussion on the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B Infection
Supported by Gilead Sciences Medical Affairs
Organized by HealthmattersCME
CME provided by Medical Education Collaborative
Salon 7&8, Marriott San Francisco
After participating in this activity, the participants will be able to:
• Describe the epidemiology and natural history of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.
• Implement a program of screening, vaccination, and diagnosis of HBV within their clinical practices.
• Evaluate the risks and benefits of available agents for treating chronic HBV infection.
• Evaluate current data on the potential use of combination therapy for patients with chronic HBV infection.
For more information, contact Alexis Gabor at 646-674-1820 or agabor@contacthmc.com.
Shades of Grey: Key Questions in the Future of Interferon Therapy for Hepatitis C
Supported by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Human Genome Sciences, Inc.
Organized by The Institute for Continuing Healthcare Education, Inc.
CME provided by The Institute for Continuing Healthcare Education, Inc.
Salon 9 – 15, Marriott San Francisco
At the end of this activity, participants should be able to:
• Apply key data from recent trials comparing different dosing strategies and formulations of the currently-available treatments for hepatitis C.
• Compare the potential efficacy of newer formulation and next-generation interferons in both treatment-naïve patients and non-responders.
• Identify characteristics deemed most and least desirable in next-generation interferons.
• Assess the future role of immunomodulators in the context of small molecule antiviral regimens.
For more information, contact Sandra Davidson at 215-446-8088 ext 1423 or sdavidson@iche.edu.