The module 1 Basic Immunology Concepts will cover some of the key immunology needed to understand the rest of the certificate program.

Check out our updated version- Certificate in Cancer Immunotherapy - Module 2 (As of 11/14/2022*), Available now....

Course Description
This interactive online course is part of the Certificate in Cancer Immunotherapy program, produced by the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC). The purpose of the certificate program is to provide hospitals, medical centers, third-party payers, referring physicians, trainees and patients with an identifiable designation for healthcare providers who can safely and effectively participate in administration of immunotherapies and manage patients treated with these approaches. View all eight modules of the program and a detailed description of the program here.

This course, Module 2: Basic Cancer Immunotherapy Concepts, will cover the biological foundation of cancer immunotherapy, applying the basic immunology you learned in the last module to help lay the foundation for future topics in this program.

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Target Audience
The program is available to licensed physicians (U.S. licensed MD / DO or global equivalent). The courses and earning of the certificate (SITC-G; G = graduate) are also available to practicing, licensed NPs, PAs, and PharmDs or global equivalent. RPh degree holders are eligible if they are involved in direct clinical services. The courses are available to others who are not practicing clinicians, but they will not be eligible to earn the certificate.

Faculty
Hussein Tawbi, MD, PhD
Deputy Chair and Professor, Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology
Director of Melanoma Clinical Research & Early Drug Development
Co-Director, MD Anderson Brain Metastasis Clinic
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Educational Objectives                                                   

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

Basis of Tumor Immunosurveillance and Immunotherapy

• Describe how the immune system recognizes and eliminates cancer cells, including the concept of immunologic memory.
• Characterize the function of specific immune cell populations in mediating tumor immunotherapy and/or immune suppression.
• Distinguish between immunosurveillance, immunoediting and immunotherapy of cancer.
• Identify the implications of immune depleted, excluded and infiltrated tumor microenvironments.
• Identify how both central and peripheral tolerance can impact immunosurveillance and immunotherapy.
• Describe the difference between primary and acquired resistance to immunotherapy.
• Apply concepts of the cancer-immunity cycle to identify how biomarkers inform and influence tumor immunotherapy.

Immunologic effects of other therapies

• Describe the immunologic effects of standard cancer therapeutics on the tumor microenvironment and immune system.
• Describe the potential impact of other, non-cancer agents, on tumor immunotherapy responses and toxicities.
• Characterize the impact of standard cancer treatments on the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy.
• Characterize the impact of standard cancer treatments on the toxicity of cancer immunotherapy.
• Distinguish total body versus focal radiotherapy effects.
• Recognize the impact of intratumoral injection and other local therapies on the tumor microenvironment and anti-tumor immune response.

SITC Online Education Disclaimer
A qualified healthcare professional should be consulted before using any therapeutic product discussed. Readers should verify all information and data before treating patients or employing any therapies described in this educational activity.

Faculty and Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

PACE requires planners, faculty, and others who are in a position to control the content of this activity to disclose all financial relationships they may have with ineligible companies. All relevant financial relationships are thoroughly vetted and mitigated according to PACE policy. PACE is committed to providing learners with high-quality accredited CE activities and related materials that promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of an ineligible company.

The faculty reported the following financial relationships or relationships to products or devices they have with ineligible companies:

The PACE planners and others have no relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies. The SITC planners and others have no relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies.

Continuing Education Information

Release Date: October 26, 2020
Expiration Date: October 26, 2024
Date of Last Review: October 12, 2023

Jointly provided by Partners for Advancing Clinical Education (PACE) and Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC)

Approximate Time to Complete:  90 minutes

For additional information about the accreditation of this activity, please visit https://partnersed.com

Computer system hardware/software requirements:
SITC connectED requires a modern web browser (Edge, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 7+) and the ability to listen to audio with the content.

Acknowledgement of Financial Commercial Support
No financial commercial support was received for this educational activity.

Acknowledgement of In-Kind Commercial Support
No in-kind commercial support was received for this educational activity.
 

Method of Participation and Request for Credit

During the period 10/27/2023 through 10/27/24 participants must read the learning objectives and faculty disclosures and study the educational activity.
Once the participant has passed the post-test with a score of 80% or higher (unlimited attempts allowed), and the course evaluation has been completed, credit will be automatically requested to the CRO the participant has selected during the registration process.
Certificates will be available to the participant for printing after passing the post-test and completing the course evaluation.

Satisfactory Completion
Learners must listen to each self-directed audio recording while following along with the visual slides/read the articles, pass the post-test with a score of 80% or higher (unlimited attempts) and complete an evaluation form to receive a certificate of completion. You must participate in the entire activity as partial credit is not available. If you are seeking continuing education credit for a specialty not listed below, it is your responsibility to contact your licensing/certification board to determine course eligibility for your licensing/certification requirement.Joint Accreditation Statement

Physicians / Nurses / Pharmacists

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Partners for Advancing Clinical Education (PACE) and Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC).  PACE is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Physician Continuing Education

PACE designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 1.5 MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.

Nursing Continuing Professional Development

The maximum number of hours awarded for this Nursing Continuing Professional Development activity is 1.5 contact hours.

Pharmacy Continuing Education

PACE designates this continuing education activity for 1.5 contact hour(s) (0.1 CEUs) of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.
(Universal Activity Number - JA4008073-9999-23-272-H01-P)
Type of Activity: Knowledge

For Pharmacists: Upon successfully completing the post-test with a score of 80% or better and the activity evaluation form, transcript information will be sent to the NABP CPE Monitor Service within 4 weeks.

Medical Physicist (CAMPEP)

This program has been approved by The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs (CAMPEP) for 1.50 MPCEC Hours.

You must request your certificate within 30 days of the activity to meet the deadline for submission to PARS.

Media
Internet

Disclosure of Unlabeled Use
This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. The planners of this activity do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications. The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of the planners. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Disclaimer
Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development. The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed or suggested in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of their patient’s conditions and possible contraindications and/or dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities.

Module 3 Immune Checkpoint Blockade will cover the biological foundation of immune checkpoint blockade therapies as well as diving into their clinical use.

Module 4 Managing Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Adverse Events will cover the presentations, diagnosis and management of adverse events resulting from immune checkpoint inhibitor treatments. This module is broken down into 2 separate modules. The combined test for both the modules can be attempted at the end of Module 4 B.

Module 4 B, Managing Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Adverse Events is the second half of the module 4. In this module, we will discuss additional toxicities that may occur with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy  and some special considerations for treatment.

Module 5 Other Approaches (Cytokines, Vaccines, and Immune Cell Engagers) will cover the biological foundation and clinical implementation of cytokines, vaccines and immune cell engagers as immunotherapies for cancer, including adverse event management.

Module 6 Oncolytic Viruses and Local Therapy will cover the biological foundation and clinical implementation of intratumoral therapies and oncolytic viruses.

Module 7 CAR T Cell and Cellular Therapy will cover the mechanisms and clinical administration of cellular therapies for cancer, including an emphasis on adverse event management.

Module 8, Implementing Cancer Immunotherapy in Clinical Practice will cover the practical aspects of instituting immunotherapy treatments in a clinical practice, such as education considerations, value-based care, and access to patient and provider resources.

You have completed all your modules for Certificate in Cancer Immunotherapy and now is the time for the final assessment. The final assessment consists of 80 multiple choice questions that test on all 8 modules of content. To pass the final assessment, you must receive a grade of 80% or above. You will have 3 attempts and 65 minutes to complete the test in full. If you do not successfully complete the final assessment in those parameters, SITC will require you to go through the modules of content again - please email education@sitcancer.org to have the content reset for you.

You will be presented with statements or questions with multiple options. Please select the appropriate option/ options for the given statement / question. Once done, please click submit.

For any questions, please reach out to education@sitcancer.org.