Thank you to those who attended the 2022 New Zealand Melanoma Summit which was held as a virtual conference on 12 – 13 February 2022.
Hosted by MelNet, the two-day multidisciplinary meeting attracted 189 delegates and formally launched the long-awaited Quality Statements for Melanoma Care in New Zealand (formerly Standards of Service Provision for Melanoma Patients in New Zealand).
The sixth national Melanoma Summit aimed to address the needs of the community of health professionals involved in melanoma prevention, diagnosis, treatment, care and research through:
- sharing knowledge, examining and discussing the latest developments in melanoma management
- strengthening relationships and connecting melanoma expertise
- identifying priorities for action for New Zealand.
Keynote presentation recordings
Recordings of the keynote presentations are available to view on the MelNet YouTube channel. Thank you to our presenters for granting permission to release these.
Summit programme
This year’s programme involved a wide range of professionals across all areas of melanoma management.
International speakers included:
- Professor David Whiteman, Senior Scientist and Deputy Director, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Queensland, Australia
- Professor Cliff Rosendahl, Course Coordinator of Master of Medicine (Skin Cancer) Programme, University of Queensland, Australia
- Professor Grant McArthur, Head Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Executive Director, Victoria Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia
- Dr Mark Faries, Surgical Oncologist, The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, Los Angeles, USA
- Dr Inês Pires da Silva, Medical Oncologist and Researcher Scientist at Melanoma Institute Australia, Westmead and Blacktown Hospitals, and The University of Sydney
- Associate Professor Louisa Gordon, Group Leader Health Economics QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
The final programme can be found here.
Priorities for action
At the conclusion of the Summit, a range of priorities for action for MelNet were identified including:
Primary prevention
- Advocate for:
- adequate Government investment into primary prevention
- sunscreen to be regulated under the Therapeutic Goods Act
- improved shade and sun protective environments (provided in local Government, sport and education settings)
- Obtain clarity on the future and ownership of the New Zealand Skin Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Strategy
- Work with the sector to ensure consistent messaging around skin cancer prevention and disseminate information on sunscreen and sun protection to primary health care professionals and ophthalmologists.
Early detection
- Advocate for the inclusion of dermatoscopy training in GPEP training
- Develop a beginners dermoscopy online course for GPEPs
- Promote an understanding of a correct skin examination and identification of normal/abnormal lesions among GPs, medical students and nurses
- Consider how dermatoscopy training could be subsidised to reduce cost as a barrier to undertaking it.
Management of advanced disease and research
- With the support of patient representatives, advocate for wider access to systemic treatments
- Develop a national melanoma immunotherapy database, including a biobank of tissue which can be used for translational research
- Advocate for equity of resources across the country, particularly medical oncologists and clinical nurse specialists
Acknowledgements
The MelNet Executive Committee would like to thank all the speakers, including chairs, panellists and presenters of the breakout sessions who were very generous in donating their time and expertise.
We would also like to thank our sponsorship partners. Their support made this event possible. We look forward to growing these relationships further in the coming years.
Finally, we would like to thank you for the incredible work you do to reduce the incidence and impact of melanoma in New Zealand. We look forward to seeing you at the next Summit – hopefully in person!
