Carolyn Ee, Deputy Director of Flinders LiveWell Cancer Research Centre, shared on LinkedIn:
“Thank you Rebecca Bergin for organising today’s thought-provoking, tear-jerking and yet uplifting session Early Onset colorectal cancer: insights across the care continuum at COSA 26.
I have been thinking about these insights all day.
Hugo Toovey and Sophia Boffa shared extraordinarily poweful lived experience stories and calls to action. See Your GP, said Hugo. Make Us Count by counting us, said Sophia. There was not a dry eye in the room when Hugo showed us his best friend – his beautiful toddler son.
Daniel Buchanan gave us hope with the work of the Bowel Cancer Australia Artemis CRE as did Fiona Radford with the Bowel Cancer Australia Specialist Support Services.
Rebecca Bergin showed us data on the increased time to presentation and diagnosis.
And Prasad C. presented on an innovative national virtual MDT model.
All expertly facilitated by Vivienne Milch.
Australia has a daunting challenge – to understand why EOCRC rates are rising, to get young people to their GPs when something isn’t right, to support GPs to safely identify those at risk, to ensure the system can adequately support timely diagnosis, treatment and supportive care, and to ensure that everyone has the same outcome regardless of their level of privilege.
Today gave me confidence that we can rise to the challenge.
I’m incredibly proud to be able to play a small part in supporting these efforts as a Guideline Leadership Group member for the national early onset CRC clinical practice guidelines. As a supportive care GP at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse I cared for a number of young people with metastatic CRC – something I never expected I would be doing when I first became a doctor > 25 years ago. Early onset CRC was rare. It is still relatively rare, but the rise since I graduated is alarming.
Thank you to all the excellent presenters today and for setting the agenda for these efforts to change data collection, systems, and lives.”
About COSA 26
The 53rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA ASM 2026) took place on November 11–13, 2026, at the International Convention Centre in Sydney, Australia. Bringing together multidisciplinary oncology professionals, researchers and healthcare experts, the congress provided a platform to exchange scientific knowledge, discuss advances in cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and explore new approaches to improving patient outcomes.
Under the theme ‘The Precision Generation: From Cancer Prevention to Personalised Care,’ the meeting highlighted the growing role of precision oncology, personalised medicine and equitable cancer care, with a particular focus on lung cancer.
