Cancer Doctors on Why Binaytara’s Best of Oncology Conference Series Matters More Than Ever

Not every oncologist can make it to ASCO — but the field's most important updates shouldn't stay in Chicago. Binaytara's Best of Oncology™ series is bringing expert-curated ASCO highlights to regional markets across the United States. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center medical oncologists and Seattle co-chairs Petros Grivas, MD, and David Zhen, MD, explain what makes these meetings worth showing up for.

Best of Oncology™, Seattle: Meeting in the Middle

A week after the closing of the ASCO Annual Meeting, Binaytara held the inaugural meeting of its 2026 Best of Oncology™ series in Seattle, WA. The conference covered the most important updates unveiled at ASCO, whose giant of an annual meeting is held from May 29 - June 2 in Chicago, IL. Binaytara’s Best of Oncology, Seattle kicks off a series that will span the United States, bringing an expert-curated roster of the highest-impact updates from ASCO to Portland, El Paso, Omaha, Shreveport, and Boise.

Why is it important to bring the latest in oncology to regional markets? Why do healthcare providers still attend in-person conferences in a digital age? And who benefits when CME is at its best? Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center medical oncologists and Best of Oncology, Seattle Co-Chairs Petros Grivas, MD, and David Zhen, MD, weighed in.

Collaboration, Coordination, and Quality CME

Drs. Zhen and Grivas both stressed the importance—and sheer delight—of convening fellow oncologists and oncology healthcare providers in a collaborative environment. Grivas shouted out the “amazing colleagues, leaders in the field, key opinion leaders, and a wonderful spectrum of talents” that gave the Best of Oncology conference, to its core an educational event, a touch of feel-good sociality. “And of course, with our friends and colleagues in community oncology practices—that gives us the opportunity to learn from each other.”

Not everyone can make it to ASCO. And while written updates abound—and have their place, certainly—the nature of live meetings means that attendees leave with their questions answered, whether through a structured Q&A panel or during a networking break.

“What brings me back is this collegiality,” Zhen—who, along with Grivas, has chaired the conference before—added. “We just have that fruitful discussion that brings a lot of collaboration, and it really just highlights the challenges of treating patients. Basically, it gives us ideas for how we can also do better care and improve treatments.”

Picking up Where ASCO Left off

It’s the very healthcare providers who would most benefit from ASCO’s updates that have trouble making the main meeting, Zhen was quick to point out. “While we attend the main ASCO meeting and we learn a lot about the new abstracts and everything, it can be challenging sometimes in regular community practice, where one may not be able to attend,” he said. “What's great about this conference is that we bring the most relevant abstracts to be presented here. We review the data, but then more importantly, [ask], ‘How does that data play into how you make actual treatment decisions for your patients?’”

That is, one of the key benefits of Best of Oncology is, beyond the data itself, the distillation and interpretation of the data by experts in the field.

Grivas agreed that it’s important to bring together community and academic oncologists. For community oncologists particularly, the breadth of the meeting is useful. Best of Oncology, Grivas stressed, “gives us the opportunity to cover the updates, have panel meetings, get the state-of-the-art management of cancers across the spectrum of malignancy— hematological malignancy, solid humors—and discuss biomarkers, side effects, treatment, optimal diagnosis, and management.”

Future Events and Resources

Best of Oncology is travelling all over the United States, planned by and featuring ASCO-savvy presenters looking to dissect the main meeting breakthroughs. Browse the catalogue to find upcoming events, or check out The Cancer News’ latest breaking expert ASCO commentary to stay in-the-know in the meantime. Take it from Grivas: “[Best of Oncology] gives us a wonderful opportunity for interactions and connectiveness, and reminds us of the common mission against cancer.”