Produced by AusDoc on behalf of COSA

COSA’s 50th anniversary is cause for celebration about the extraordinary progress in the science and practice of oncology, said Professor Michael Friedlander during yesterday morning’s plenary.  

It is also a time for reflection about the many missed opportunities along the way and mistakes from which to learn, said Friedlander, who became emersed in oncology 45 years ago and is conjoint Professor of Medicine at UNSW and a medical oncologist at the Royal Hospital for Women and Nelune Cancer Centre in Sydney. 

Friedlander attended his first COSA conference in 1979. Encouraged by excellent mentors, his clinical and research focus on breast and gynaecological cancers began early in his training in what was then the new field of medical oncology.