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Vol. 35 No. 4 - October 2022/January 2023
Early detection of Prostate Cancer
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EU Council gives green light for EU-wide guidance and collaboration
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Patient satisfaction in functional urology
The complexity of improving quality of life
24-25
EMUC22: Essential Multidisciplinarity
Report fresh from the congress floor
EAU23: The Big Scientific Programme Preview
The 38th Annual EAU Congress is following hot on the heels of EAU22. On 10-13 March 2023, Milan will host one of the world’s largest urology events. Over 4500 abstracts were submitted for EAU23, the third-highest number ever recorded for an Annual EAU Congress. This is a sign of renewed enthusiasm for the EAU’s flagship event, says chair of the Scientific Congress Office, Prof. Peter Albers (Düsseldorf, DE).
“We are very grateful for having received such a vast number of abstracts this year, and I think this touches on several important issues. First of all, it shows that the EAU’s Annual Congress is THE event to present cutting-edge research in urology. Secondly, it shows that the in-person format is still superior to the virtual meetings of previous years. Finally, it shows that the design of the meeting is appealing.”
“Moreover, with so many submissions we have to be critical and select only the best of the best for presentation in Milan. In recent years we’ve managed to accept around a third of the submissions and this year I think we will again be able to accommodate about 1500 abstracts at the congress. This will be an incredible source of new knowledge for everyone attending the presentations. Most importantly, the panels and discussants will be putting the new research findings in perspective.”
The highest number of submissions covered prostate cancer, urothelial cancer, benign lower urinary tract diseases, renal tumours, and urolithiasis. More than 400 videos were submitted, and a fifth of those concerned urogenital reconstruction. EAU23 will nevertheless follow the four-day format that was introduced for the EAU21 Virtual Congress. Prof. Albers sees clear advantages in persevering with a four-day programme:
“Our Annual Congress needs to concentrate on the best of the best so a shorter programme helps us focus. Second, the four days include a Friday and a Monday as working days. For our delegates, this means that they only have to spend a few days away from the hospital or practice to attend the full congress. All in all, the Scientific Congress Office thinks that for the audience, the speakers, the faculty, and the industry the four days are sufficient to deliver our scientific news to the world.”
Hot topics in 2023
“There are numerous highly-ranked phase III trials which will be publicly presented for the first time,” says Prof. Albers. “We are very proud that researchers and principal investigators
Live surgery at EAU22 in Amsterdam. The Scientific Congress Office is making some changes to the design of the live surgery session for EAU23. Read more on page 4.
from international trials have selected our Annual Congress as the occasion for the worldwide debut of their new data. All the potentially ‘game-changing’ news will be presented in a format that we have developed over the past few years: with a presenter and a discussant in front of a Plenary audience.”
Prof. Peter Albers, Chair of the Scientific Congress Office
EAU23 has a total of eight plenary sessions that cover the biggest and most pressing topics. Albers: “We have selected very up-to-date topics for the Plenary presentations, like transplant surgery, infections, stones and major cancers. PCa screening and early detection (including imaging) will be discussed in the light of the new European Commission recommendations. In addition to that, we have focused on personalised medicine in diagnostics and treatment. We’ll have a special session on prostate cancer genomics for practitioners and lots of interesting thematic sessions on men’s health and BPH treatment. Thanks to the Patient Office, the patient voice will be more present at EAU23 than ever. The programme is completed by the popular day-long live surgery session that takes place every year.”
“Recently we’ve introduced sessions that will feature experts discussing abstracts, as well as ‘Best of EAU’ sessions that guide the audience to the really important take-home messages. These will be summarised at the end of the congress in our traditional ‘souvenir’ session. What’s new this year is that we will also deliver these important new research findings in a variety of media: coverage using EAU TV, social media, and on-site discussions. All of these sessions will become available online, and the larger sessions will also be live streamed.”
Keeping the Scientific Programme fresh
With the EAU’s congress now in its 38th iteration, is it a challenge for the SCO to keep the scientific programme fresh and innovative? How much is in the hands of the SCO and how much is dependent on the research that is being submitted?
“I can rely on perfect scientific news every year,” says Prof. Albers. “It is important to stay in close contact with urology’s ‘key opinion leaders’ who usually are principal investigators of practice-changing trials. Over the past few years, they could be persuaded to present their data for the first time worldwide at our Annual Congress. The EAU is really competitive and provides a perfect platform for presentation including media coverage. Therefore, there is no problem in ‘keeping it fresh’.”
“The real challenge in the coming years will be to create a congress that is so attractive that attendees are easily willing to pay the fee for an in-person meeting. Virtual meetings are of course less expensive to attend, and now we have to deliver added value at the in-person meetings. Personally I think the added value lies in the discussant sections where new research findings are put into perspective by an expert, in some cases followed also by a panel discussion. This is hard to deliver online. In addition, the possibility to meet and talk to the world’s best researchers in person is only available at such a meeting.”
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10-13 March 2023
Cutting-edge Science at Europe’s largest Urology Congress
Registration now open!
Early Fee Deadline: 16 January 2023
“All in all, I personally think there is a challenge to offer a better alternative to a virtual meeting. Aside from the scientific highlights and attractive programme, we cannot ignore that the social aspect is still important and desired. I have been at several scientific meetings in 2022 and all of them were completely full. People want to meet and discuss with colleagues again after the pandemic. And this is our chance. We’ll meet in one of the most vivid cities in Europe, present one of the top scientific programmes of the year and we will meet the best audience, for sure!”
New speakers and topics are still being confirmed! Visit www.eau23.org and check out the latest additions to the Scientific Programme.
