The 30th annual Living with Cancer conference will take place next Wednesday at the Augusta Civic Center. The all-day event brings together current cancer patients from around the state – both men and women – and their caregivers, along with cancer survivors and health care providers for a day of education, inspiration and support.

The conference is free to cancer patients, caregivers and survivors, but health care professionals are asked to pay $30 for the day, which includes lunch. Registration in advance is required.

This year’s keynote speaker, Dr. Carolyn Kaelin, is the founding director of the Comprehensive Breast Health Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School.

She is also a survivor of breast cancer.

“So she really speaks from both sides of the stethoscope,” said Sue Clifford of the Maine chapter of the American Cancer Society.

Morning and afternoon workshops will allow attendees to choose from 15 different one-hour sessions on topics including maintaining good nutrition during cancer treatment, managing stress, telling the patient’s cancer story, understanding new cancer treatment options, developing intuition and getting healthy again after surviving cancer.

One workshop will train volunteers to provide one-on-one nonprofessional support to women with breast cancer through the “Reach for Recovery” program. Other activities include art projects and musical entertainment, as well as the opportunity to visit a number of commercial exhibitors.

Clifford said the event is geared primarily toward adults and older teens affected by cancer.

During the afternoon panel discussion, three Maine cancer survivors will share their experiences. Ben Carter, a 15-year-old high school freshman from Ellsworth, is a 10-year survivor of acute lymphocytic leukemia. Chuck French of Durham was diagnosed in 1985 with melanoma and in 1995 with prostate cancer. Anne Palmer of Belfast has undergone extensive treatment for breast cancer since being diagnosed in 1989.

The conference opens at 7:45 a.m. and concludes at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 7, at the Augusta Civic Center. It is sponsored by a number of Maine businesses and health care facilities, as well as by the American Cancer Society.

For information or to register for the conference, contact Debbie Seybold at the American Cancer Society at 373-3708.