Stepping up its social media efforts in time for this year's American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting Boehringer Ingelheim has launched a new lung cancer-focused blog.

The Not Just One Disease blog echoes Boehringer's ongoing messaging that patient diversity in lung cancer requires personalised treatment approaches.

But the blog won't be restricted to treatment topics and the company says the patient journey, researchers' perspective and the future of lung cancer care may all feature.

The blog was introduced by a post last week from Dr Mehdi Shahidi, who is associate therapeutic area head of solid tumour oncology within Boehringer's clinical development and medical affairs team.

He wrote: “At the core of Not Just One Disease is the simple fact that cancer, and especially lung cancer, is not just one disease. There are many distinct types and subtypes, and a tailored approach to treatment can improve patient outcomes.

“Over the five day meeting itself, we will provide overviews of current activities in the field of oncology and lung cancer, and also our social media #ASCO14 picks of the day.”

The blog will feature contributions from external experts and patient group representatives alongside posts by Boehringer personnel.

The ASCO meeting is one of the biggest events in the oncology world – more than 25,000 cancer specialists are expected to attend this year, but it poses a significant challenge for pharma companies wanting to stand out from their peers.

Thank you #AACR14 - see you all @ASCO for our next oncology update. In the meantime, for GSK news we're over on @GSK

— GSK at Conferences (@GSK_conferences) April 10, 2014

Boehringer and others in the industry already make substantial use of Twitter for pretty much every major congress as part of their communications efforts.

GlaxoSmithKline, for example, has its @GSK_Conferences account, which features tweets from GSK employees attending scientific conferences, and Merck & Co started tweeting about ASCO 2014 nearly two months ahead of the event.

50 days until @ASCO's 50th Annual Meeting- we're looking forward to attending. #ASCO14

— Merck (@Merck) April 11, 2014

Meanwhile, dedicated sections of web sites are often developed for specific congresses, such as within Boehringer's Newshome press portal or by Genentech for its own ASCO 2014 pages.

However, Boehringer's new disease and event-specific blog may well prove to be a smart way to cut through the noise at ASCO and could also mark a further step forward on road to greater virtual participation by pharma in the big scientific congresses.

The only slight anomaly that those journeying to Chicago for ASCO 2014 may notice is that Boehringer's new blog isn't aimed at them. “Because of country-specific regulations, the blog is only intended for those outside the US and UK”, a company disclaimer runs.

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