CONGRESS NEWS

Highlights of the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium 2018

With the background of the famous Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, the annual Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium was held from 18–20 January 2018 in the Moscone Congress Center in San Francisco, California. In this report, the most important headlines will be discussed, with comments on the clinical relevance of the different studies.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2018:12(3):133–141)

Geriatric oncology: From research to practice: Incorporating geriatric oncology into patient care

The 2017 annual conference of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology took place in Warsaw, Poland from November 9–11^th. More than 300 delegates from 42 countries with a special interest in the care for older patients with cancer attended this conference. The meeting provided an overview of current advances in geriatric oncology.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2018:12(3):142–144)

Highlights of Scientific Summits Meeting

Summary

Since last year a board of respectively three urologists and one radiation oncologist created the ‘Scientific Summits’. This is a scientifically independent Belgian congress for urologists, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists and radiologists with special interest in urology and more specifically in urologic oncology. The aim of Scientific Summits is providing up-to-date scientific information based on the highlights of the most recent international congresses. The 4^th edition took place in the charming city of Durbuy, Belgium.

The first day of the meeting focussed on the treatment and prevention of side effects of various anticancer treatments in urologic oncology. Experts in the field shared practical tips and tricks, based on interactive case discussions. They illustrated difficult situations and how to deal with them. On the second day of the meeting, interactive state-of-the-art lectures provided us with up-to-date information on how to evaluate and manage advanced and recurrent prostate cancer.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2018;12(2):82–85)

Highlights from the 2017 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) annual meeting on women’s cancer

SUMMARY

From 12–15^th March, the Society of Gynecological Oncology hosted its 48^th annual meeting. The meeting continues to be one of the key educational and scientific events for physicians treating and caring for women with gynaecologic cancer. This summary will discuss some of the key studies presented during the meeting, with a focus on medical oncology. For a complete overview of abstracts presented in National Harbor we refer to the Society of Gynecological Oncology website: www.sgo.org.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2017;11(3):134–137)

Highlights of the European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (ENETS) Congress

Barcelona, 8-10 March 2017.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2017;11(3):129–133)

Geriatric Oncology: a multidisciplinary approach in a global environment

SUMMARY

The 2016 annual conference of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology took place in Milan, Italy from November 17–19^th. More than 450 delegates from 42 countries with a special interest in the care for older patients with cancer attended this conference. The meeting provided an overview of current advances in geriatric oncology.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2017;11(2):78–80)

Selected highlights from the 31^st European Association of Urology Annual Congress

Summary

The 31^st European Association of Urology Annual Congress took place in March 2016 in Munich. In prostate cancer the early use of chemotherapy in addition to androgen deprivation therapy in men with primary metastatic disease is a clinical practice changing concept that needs implementation through collaboration between urologists and medical oncologists.
The role of MRI and fusion biopsies in early detection, diagnosis and active surveillance strategies is becoming more and more important. In bladder cancer, non-urothelial tumour types got a lot of attention and specific treatment strategies were presented. Furthermore, immunological treatment came forward to perhaps replace chemotherapy in the management of advanced urothelial bladder cancer.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2016;10(6):228–231)