ASCO 2009, Smaller but Still Successful, Says CEO Allen Lichter

ORLANDO, FL—“Considering these are the worst economic conditions in three-quarters of a century, with a pandemic flu circulating, [and the meeting] held in a city that's more difficult for international participants to get to and that's not as attractive a destination for doctors without kids, I am really very pleased we did so well.” So said ASCO CEO Allen S. Lichter, MD, speaking with OT here toward the end of the American Society of Clinical Oncology's 45th Annual Meeting.

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The Society had initially declined to comment when contacted in mid-March about how it was faring during the economic recession (4/25/09 OT), but in early June Dr. Lichter was happy to share some statistics.

He said about 29,500 people had registered for the meeting—down 13% from last year's record-setting 34,000 attendees in Chicago, but the same number as for the Orlando meeting in 2005.

He predicted that the Annual Meeting would reach a steady number of attendees somewhere in the mid-30,000 range, because “no organization continues to grow forever.”

However, he said that membership is still growing and that 200 fewer faculty (for a total of about 700) were invited to present this year, since the number of Educational Sessions had been capped at 170, down from the more than 200 offerings last year.

Purposely Reduced the Number of Educational Sessions in Response to Feedback

The cut in courses was due to feedback from ASCO members who faced up to 28 concurrent sessions at the 2008 Annual Meeting and felt that was too many choices.

“Psychological studies show when people have too many choices it can affect their comfort level,” Dr. Lichter said, noting that the maximum number of simultaneous sessions this year did not exceed 20.

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The Orlando site—much more popular in the 1980s when many ASCO members brought their then-younger families to the still-novel Disney attractions—was also logistically difficult for many international attendees, especially those from Asia, according to Dr. Lichter, who also cited Influenza A(H1N1), the swine flu, as a deterrent for many.

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He said that certain Japanese universities discouraged their faculty from attending, subjecting them to one-week quarantines upon returning.

“ASCO provided H1N1 updates daily, but about 250 people wanted refunds because of fear of the flu.”

Recessional cutbacks in travel by academic centers and private practices also contributed to the decrease in numbers, as did the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) code adopted in January restricting gifts, which caused pharmaceutical companies to send fewer people since “the code made it impossible to take physicians to dinner,” Dr. Lichter said.

In general, beyond the excellent scientific content, the meeting seemed slightly more subdued, with a number of smaller companies and not-for-profits eliminating their exhibits, far less traffic in the exhibit area—possibly due to the lack of pharma give-a-ways—and at least two cancer centers canceling their annual receptions because “it just didn't feel right to have them at this time,” according to their respective representatives.

Financially, Dr. Lichter said the meeting was positive, but less positive than last year.

“It was a wonderful meeting for our members, and we had a little bit of excess revenue over expenses, but [given the economic climate] it would have been impossible this year to have done much better.”

And he said he also wanted to thank Johnson & Johnson for donating what was probably the only authorized gift from a pharmaceutical company—30,000 one-ounce bottles of Purell hand sanitizer, fast becoming a ubiquitous fixture at public gatherings.

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