2020 ANZUP ASM

from ANZUP Annual Report 2021

Below the Belt Research Fund

2020 ANZUP ASM: Henry Woo

As a consequence of COVID-19 ANZUP made the difficult decision to postpone the face-to-face ANZUP ASM in Adelaide, and move it back a year to July 2021 . We held numerous discussions with members and sponsors and decided to hold a virtual Mini ASM .

The Mini ASM provided a platform to discuss and present the latest updates in GU cancer treatment, research and supportive care and to learn more about existing and planned ANZUP trials .

On behalf of the ‘mini’ organising committee for the 2020 ANZUP Mini ASM I’d like to thank everyone who presented, attended and help organise ANZUP’s first hybrid ASM – be it through our virtual platform or in person in one of the hubs that were held across the country .

The program kicked off with a Nurses and Allied Health Session: In the face of a pandemic: Navigating a clinical trial where a panel explored the challenges of treating patients and the lessons learnt during a pandemic . This was a great session with some insightful conversations which are being collated into a research paper .

We also saw the return of the ever popular MDT Master Games . The afternoon was convened by Craig Gedye, Carole Harris and Nicky Lawrence . The panels were broken up by disease type . Each then endeavoured to educate the audience with real-life clinical challenges and audience polling .

On the Sunday evening we hosted a ‘virtual’ welcome drink session and held the first two highly anticipated ANZUPx talks – featuring Andrew Weickhardt and Catriona McNeil . Since its inception 3 years ago, ANZUPx has never failed to disappoint - and this year, even virtually, was no different . We also held the first of our two ‘ANZUP in Conversation’ panel discussions hosted by Joseph Ischia and Renu Eapen . The first of our stellar international line up on the panel were Silke Gillessen and Tom Powles - and this was truly a highlight .

The Monday morning saw the next ‘ANZUP in Conversation’ sessions featuring more of our great internationals: Chris Sweeney, Alicia Morgans, Felix Feng and Cristiane Bergerot . There was lively, and sometimes controversial discussions around the GU highlights of 2020 .

Our ANZUP Symposium hosted a panel of both international and national speakers who explored ‘Creating a clinical pathway in the face of a Pandemic’ – a very interesting and topical discussion .

ANZUP trial updates and next steps, a virtual poster discussant room and ANZUP awards including the Below the Belt Research Fund Awards and Best of the Best rounded off a very full agenda .

But the Mini ASM was completed with an ever entertaining and thought-provoking ANZUPx session given by our final international speaker, Alison Birtle .

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our members and our sponsors for their attendance, either virtually or at a local hub, and ongoing support of ANZUP . This meeting was only made possible by the dedication of each and every member of our ANZUP community . The convening committee of Ian Davis and Lisa Horvath displayed an extraordinary commitment to developing another world-class educational, inspirational and captivating program . I am grateful to the ANZUP subcommittee chairs for their review of the submitted abstracts and concepts . My thanks also to the ANZUP management team and in particular, Marg McJannett .

ANZUP continues to go from strength to strength . People continue to be diagnosed with genitourinary cancers, so even though we are making good progress there is more work to be done . With your help, ANZUP has the opportunity to place Australia and New Zealand at the forefront of the world of GU Oncology .

We look forward to the 2021 ANZUP ASM in Adelaide from Sunday 19 October to Tuesday 21 October 2021 .