Oncology I

Name: Oncology I
Start: 2026-12-09T00:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-12-13T23:59:59+01:00
Location: Luxembourg

Tumour Biology, Diagnostic and Treatment Options & Skin Tumours

Program Director:

Dr. Jarno Schmidt MRCVS, Dipl. ECVIM-CA (DE)

Principal Course Master(s):

Dr. Jarno Schmidt MRCVS, DECVIM-CA (DE)

Course Overview

From “Lump” to Logic: A structured clinical introduction to veterinary oncology
Oncology is no longer a niche—it is a daily reality. This course provides a systematic entry point into modern cancer management. We move from clinical uncertainty to a structured, biological approach, teaching you to master the “Game Rules” of Cancer to understand the rationale behind clinical decisions.

This module establishes the clinical framework on which all subsequent oncology modules build.

What makes this course unique is the integrated balance of Medical and Surgical Oncology. Our primary focus remains on what you see every day: Skin and Adnexal Tumours. You will leave with a clear clinical “blueprint” for the most frequent cases, understanding the ethical balance between definitive therapy and palliative care.

Importantly, the value of this course is not dependent on performing chemotherapy or radiation therapy in-house. The focus is on clinical decision-making, enabling you to guide clients appropriately regardless of available treatment options and to make informed referral decisions.
We teach evidence-based, internationally accepted oncology principles and help you translate them into structured, real-world clinical decision-making for general practice, including situations where diagnostic or therapeutic resources are limited.

Learning Objectives

• Manage “Check Lump” Consultations with Confidence: Apply a standardized, confident approach to every patient with a suspected skin mass, replacing guesswork with clinical logic.
• Diagnose with Confidence: Acquire the technical skills to identify the most relevant skin tumours yourself using in-house cytology, providing immediate clarity for the owner.
• Master the “Stay or Refer” Decision: Learn to distinguish between manageable and complex cases, enabling you to manage appropriate cases in your own practice while identifying the moment specialist referral is indicated
• Optimize Surgical & Medical Outcomes: Apply fundamental surgical oncology principles for clean margins and understand the biological rationale and safety considerations for chemotherapy and radiation protocols.
• Communicate with Authority and Empathy: Guide owners through complex decisions with professional clarity, providing realistic expectations and compassionate guidance.

This course is designed for:

• General Practitioners seeking a logically structured approach to oncology patients to move beyond “watch and wait.”
• Ambitious Veterinarians aiming for an ESAVS Oncology Master’s or Certificate level, seeking a solid foundation that holds up to international standards.
• Surgeons seeking to better understand surgical oncological principles to drastically reduce the risk of local tumour recurrence.
• Practice Owners aiming to expand their clinic’s service spectrum by implementing basic diagnostics and oncology protocols responsibly.

Note: Access to basic diagnostic tools (radiography, ultrasound, microscopy, laboratory) is highly recommended to fully utilize the algorithms taught in this course.

Topics

Tumour Biology 101: A clinician’s guide to cancer behavior.
Diagnostic Roadmap: Imaging strategies and systematic tumour staging.
Biopsy & Cytology: Theory and interactive dry-lab sessions on sample collection and interpretation.
Medical Oncology: a practical introduction to chemotherapy, focusing on indications, safety and clinical decision-making
Surgical Oncology: Do’s and don’ts, margin planning and reconstructive principles.
Radiation Oncology: Understanding its role in the multimodal approach.
Clinical Cases: Deep dive into the most common canine and feline skin tumours.

Next Steps:
Oncology II and III build upon this seminar, addressing all remaining tumour systems in detail. The recommended path is doing Oncology II before III, but this is not essential and these courses can be taken in any order once either Oncology I or Feline Oncology are completed.

Course Program (Subject to change)

Wednesday, 9 December 2026

08:30 – 09:00 Welcome and registration
09:00 – 10:30 The road from normal to cancer: how & why do normal cells become cancerous…and what does that mean? (Schmidt)
10:30 – 11:00 Coffee Break
11:00 – 12:10 Diagnostic approach to the cancer patient I (Schmidt)
History, Clinical Exam, laboratory tests, diagnostic imaging
12:10 – 12:45 Cancer staging: principles, practice, limitations (Zandvliet)
CASE-based:
How would you work-up and stage this patient? (Zandvliet)
12:45 – 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 – 15:30 Wet-Lab: Biopsy, biopsy, biopsy! (Zandvliet & Schmidt)
How do I biopsy this mass & make good smears?
How do I submit samples for histology and what do I want from a pathologist / pathology report (examples good and bad reports….)
15:30 – 16:00 Coffee Break
16:00 – 17:30 Paraneoplastic syndromes:
General principles
Case management I (Schmidt)

Thursday, 10 December 2026

09:00 – 10:20 Introduction to chemotherapy I (Schmidt)
• How do chemo drugs work in general?
• How do you dose chemotherapy?
10:20 – 11:20 Introduction to chemotherapy II (Zandvliet)
• Monotherapy vs combination therapy
• Principles of (neo)- adjuvant chemotherapy
• Success & failure with chemotherapy (WHO criteria, resistance mechanisms)
• Prognostication: Median survival times, KM-Meier, etc
11:20– 11:45 Coffee Break
11:45 – 12:10 Chemotherapy drugs I Alkylators, L-Asparginase, Corticosteroids, Platinum-Drugs (Schmidt)
12:10 – 13:00 Chemotherapy drugs II: Antitumour Antibiotics, Vinca-Alkaloids, Taxanes, Antimetabolites (Zandvliet)
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 – 14:45 Chemotherapy administration(Zandvliet):
• Risks for vets & clients, communication, precautions…
• Legal framework for using chemotherapy
• How to safely administer chemotherapy
14:45 – 15:30 Wet-lab: how to use the PhaSeal & Equashield Systems for safe
application of chemotherapeutic agents (Schmidt)
15:30 – 16:00 Coffee Break
16:00 – 18:00 CASE-SESSION: How do I manage this chemotherapy side effect? (Schmidt)

Friday, 11 December 2026

09:00 – 09:45 How do I avoid and manage iatrogenic chemotherapy complications? (Schmidt)
09:45 – 10:45 The art of “checking lump”:
Overview & general approach (Schmidt)
Canine benign skin tumours and “tumour-like lesions“(Schmidt)
Canine cutaneous (& digital) melanomas (Schmidt)
10:45 – 11:15 Coffee Break
11:00 – 12:30 Tumour cytology: getting started (Schmidt)
12:30 – 13:45 Lunch Break
13:45 – 14:30 Feline squamous cell carcinomas (skin, nasal planum) & Bowen’s disease (Findji)
groups 1 and 2 rotate on days 3 (p.m.) and day 4 (a.m.)
14:30 – open end Group 1: Small group work: Practical tumour cytology I (including Coffee Break) (Schmidt)
14:30 –16:45 Group 2: Case-based approach to surgical oncology (including Coffee Break) (Findji)

Saturday, 12 December 2026

08:30 – 10:30 Group 2 (day 3): Small group work: Practical tumour cytology I (Schmidt)
09:00 – 10:30 Group 1 (day 3): Case-based approach to surgical oncology (Findji)
10:30 – 11:00 Coffee Break
11:00 – 11:30 Basic principles of radiation oncology (Schmidt
11:30 – 12:00 “Metronomic chemotherapy: hype or hope” (Schmidt)
12:00 – 13:00 Anal sac and perianal tumours (Findji)
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 – 17:15 Small group work: groups 1 and 2 rotating after the break
14:00 – 14:30 Anal sac and perianal tumours (Findji) continued
14:30 – 16:15 Group 1: Case management session (Findji): Canine and feline soft-tissue sarcomas (90 min)
Group 2: Practical tumour cytology II (Schmidt) (90-120 min)
15:30 – 16:00 Coffee Break (15-30min)
16:15 – 17:30 groups 1 and 2 rotate

Sunday, 13 December 2026

08:00 – 09:15 Canine mast cell tumours: biology, diagnosis, staging, histology (Schmidt)
09:15 – 10:15 Canine mast cell tumours: tyrosine kinase inhibitors and chemotherapy
10:15-10:45 Coffee Break
10:45-11:15 Stelfonta for the treatment of canine mast cell tumours (Schmidt)
11:15 – 12:35 CASE-management: How would you work-up this MCT and treat it? (Findji)
12:355 – 12:45 Casus, Master vs Certificate Program, Feedback, Q&A (Schmidt)
12:45 – 13:45 Lunch Break & hotel check out
Afternoon
13:45 – 14:15 Case management session. Feline cutaneous & splenic mast cell tumours (Schmidt)
14:15 – 14:45 Case management session (Findji): Canine squamous cell carcinomas (digit, skin, nasal planum)
14:45 – 15:00 Casus, Master vs Certificate Program, Feedback, Q&A (Schmidt)
15:00 open-end Coffee & wrap-up of the course