Suzanne Festen, Internist geriatrician and assistant professor at the University Medical Center Groningen, shared on LinkedIn:
“Today we presented a joint European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO) SIOG – International Society of Geriatric Oncology session at SIOG 2026.
This interactive session ‘when something doesn’t feel right is the ‘best’ treatment really the right treatment?’ was about clinical doubt when treating older patients with cancer and how to handle this.
It starts by recognizing doubt and gut feeling as a signal, not a failure.
By using geriatric assessment and elicitation of patient priorities and by interprofessional collaboration, we can use doubt to improve patient care. Don’t forget nurses, as they hold valuable information and insights and, of course, the patient and their caregivers.
It was a pleasure to moderate this session together with Nicole M Saur, and Geerard Beets.
Many thanks to our wonderful panel of experts: Riccardo A. Audisio Dr. Hanneke van der Wal- Huisman Joshua Wolf Armin Shahrokni, Lisa Cooper, Ann Pennela, Michael Jacklitsch.”
