Remembering My First SIOP Congress in 1991

by Prof. Dr. Rejin Kebudi

As the SIOP Annual Congress in Barcelona is approaching, we are excited to meet many of you “in person” again. During the COVID19 pandemic, SIOP was there to support colleagues. The SIOP 2020 and SIOP2021  "virtual" Congresses and many other virtual educational activities allowed all to access the new developments, learn about the state of the art, and interact. 

For those who are new, the SIOP Supportive Care Network (SCN) was established in 2007 and aims to address global supportive care issues for children, adolescents and young adults with cancer. We all know that all our patients need supportive care in addition to up-to-date specific cancer treatment. The Supportive Care Network’s role is to identify those interested and active in supportive care, to support one another and to generate international communication among professionals in the different areas of supportive care and offer insight in areas of research and areas of education on supportive care issues worldwide. 

It is amazing to see that currently, there are more than 600 members of the Supportive Care Network, from all continents. SIOP members in active status may choose to join the Network by updating their SIOP Profile on the SIOP website at any time.

We are looking to meet you in Barcelona this year. Take a look at the website at the  joint sessions of the Supportive Care Network,  Nursing Network and CCI on the Education Day program, on September 28th, 2022. Main topics are “Integrative Health-Complementary Intervention”, “COVID-19 Vaccination for Paediatric Oncology Patients”, and “Survivorship”. Additionally, the Local Organizing Committee has a session on Supportive Care on the Educational Day.

I attended my first SIOP meeting in 1991, when I was a fellow in paediatric oncology, I was amazed with the high quality of science, meeting and learning from so many experts.  Since then,  I have actively attended all SIOP meetings, I have met with colleagues from all over the world and have collaborated scientifically with many and have built strong friendships. SIOP has played a major role in my international oncology career. SIOP is unique because it is the only professional global society working to improve paediatric cancer worldwide in collaboration with physicians, nurses, other healthcare professionals, parents and survivors. With the efforts of SIOP and St. Jude Global supporting the WHO GICC program, we may be able to see the cure of most children with cancer worldwide.

I encourage all our members, especially young colleagues to actively participate in SIOP activities, networks, working groups and for those interested in to join the SIOP Supportive Care Network.            

Prof. Dr. Rejin Kebudi, MD, Co-Chair of the SIOP Supportive Care Network, is a Professor of Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology-Oncology in the Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, and the Oncology Institute.   She is consultant in the American Hospital in Istanbul. She has trained in the American Collegiate Institute (Izmir), Ege University and Istanbul University. She gained international experience where she trained with scholarships: Sind Radboud Hospital, Nijmegen; New York University; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and UCLA. She is a member of SIOP (International Society of Pediatric Oncology) since 1992, ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology), COG (Children’s Oncology Group, international member) and other major scientific oncology societies. She has served as the President of the Turkish Pediatric Oncology Group (TPOG) Society. She was the co-chair of the SIOP-PODC Supportive Care and Nutrition Working Group (2010-2014) and has been appointed as the chair of the SIOP Supportive Care Working Group in 2016.  She received the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) International Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award in 2018. Her major work is in supportive care, cancer care in developing countries, solid tumors, sarcomas, gliomas, and retinoblastoma.