No longer the domain of a few practitioners at tertiary care centers, the specialty of interventional oncology is diffusing throughout academic and community hospitals worldwide. Simultaneously, there has been an explosion in the device industry with more options for treatment than ever before. According to a recent update in corporate medical policy by BlueCross/Blue Shield, 6 microwave devices now have 510k approval in the United States alone. The options available to a practicing IO can be staggering. Access to information in this rapidly evolving field has traditionally been de-centralized, based on word of mouth or discussion at meetings.

IO-Central.org launched in June of 2012. Page views have steadily increased with features including the Case of the Week, IO Insights providing abstracts of current literature, the Clinic Notes blog providing the wizened insights of Michael Soulen, and Discussion Forums. We are expanding the Discussion Forum to create areas where interventional oncology professionals and trainees can interact and ask questions on focused topics. New themes include specific procedures and groups who have expressed significant interest in Interventional Oncology. Several prominent interventional oncologists have agreed to serve as moderators. The lineup:

Modalities:

Tumor Ablation:

• David Lu, UCLA
   
• Fred Lee, University of Wisconsin

Chemoembolization:

• Ken Kolbeck, Dotter Institute
   
• Nishita Kothary, Stanford

Radioembolization:

• Charlie Nutting, Radiology Imaging Associates, Denver
   
• Tobias Jakobs, Hospital Barmherzige Brueder, Munich

Interest Groups:

Residents and Fellows:

• Deepak Sudheendra, University of Pennsylvania
   
• Ahsun Riaz, Northwestern University
   
• Steven Huffman, Northwestern University

Medical Students:

• Geogy Vatakencherry, Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles
   
• Alex Sheu, Northwestern University
   
• Patrick Tyler, Northwestern University

The Collaborative Team:

• Ginna Deitrick, CRNP, University of Pennsylvania
   
• Matt Kennedy, BSN MA, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
   
• Debbie Fleischer, CRNP, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

*Some of the moderators are photographed below. 

Alexander Sheu	Charles Nutting	Deepak Sudheendra	Kenneth Kolbeck	Nishita Kothary	Steven Huffman	Tobias Jakobs

The final group is of great interest to me personally as it involves the non-physicians who are crucial in the management and treatment of patients. I would not survive in my day-to-day practice without the outstanding nurses, techs and PA’s in our practice. Others will have experience with NP’s, palliative care staff and other practitioners who are crucial in bringing comfort and dignity to the patients we treat.

This is an exciting time for Interventional Oncology and a great option to further your practice, so get involved. Participate and ask questions. Connect and interact. Tell a friend. Tell your staff. Registering on IO-Central.org is simple and free. Once logged in, access is available for all parts of the website for learning and networking. This is the first of several planned expansions for service on IO-Central.org so come on in!

Daniel B. Brown