Event Details

WCIO is thrilled to be part of the first scientific congress of the Pan Arab IR Society in Dubai. Working with Dr. Mohammad AlTwalah, President of PAIRS, and Dr. Nadia Hammami, Head of the Scientific Committee, an entire day of the PAIRS Congress program is devoted to interventional oncology and prostate embolization. 

The 22 nations of the Arab world contain a population larger than the USA or Europe, and are faced with many of the same oncologic challenges seen in Asia and the West, particularly the growing prevalence of virally-induced hepatocellular carcinoma due to the hepatitis B and hepatitis C infection. There are hundreds of fellowship-trained interventional radiologists, reaching a critical mass for organized IR to provide a base for education and training locally. Hence we are at the origin of a huge opportunity to grow IO in Arabia and provide access to minimally-invasive care to thousands of patients with cancer. Since many countries have well-funded health care systems, patients have access to sophisticated specialty hospitals offering advanced technologies including drug-eluting microspheres and radioembolization. Industry is waking up to this opportunity, with major sponsorship for the PAIRS program coming from WCIO Corporate Partners Covidien, Sirtex, and Merit Medical.

Guest faculty for the IO program are myself, WCIO International Education Chair Alexis Kelekis from Athens, Greece, Jens Ricke from Magdeburg, Germany, and Francisco Carnivale from Sao Paolo, Brasil. The curriculum starts with prestigious experts on HCC in Arab countries summarizing the state of the art in epidemiology, biology, medical, and surgical therapy followed by talks on ablation and embolotherapies. The afternoon program offers more focused talks on metastatic colon cancer, neuroendocrine tumor, renal cancer, and bone metastases, as well as sessions devoted to prostate embolization and to difficult case presentations.