Recap of the SUO 18th Annual Meeting
Posted: December 20, 2017
The Society of Urologic Oncology recently wrapped up another successful program at the 18th Annual Meeting. The Society saw its highest attendance yet with over 750 medical professionals present to learn about emerging medical techniques and engage in educational discussions. Meeting attendance is not the only thing on the rise, either, with membership in the Society nearing 1,000 members.
Chaired by Drs. Gerald Andriole and Christopher Kane, the well-attended meeting covered an array of urologic topics from prostate, bladder, kidney and penile cancer, including special sessions on advanced imaging and immunotherapy. Dr. Rana McKay from University of California, San Diego, and Dr. Paul Pinsky from the National Cancer Institute delivered the two State-of-the-Art Lectures on “The Evolving Management of Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma” and “Trials, Trends and Models: Synthesizing the Evidence on Prostate Cancer Screening,” respectively. The Society was also pleased to welcome Dr. Francesco Montorsi as the EAU lecture, as he addressed “Clinically Relevant Questions in the Surgical Management of Prostate Cancer." Videos of the presentations as well as photos from the meeting are available to all our members.
We want to congratulate Dr. Robert Flanigan as the recipient of this year’s Huggins Medal. Dr. Brantley Thrasher was also awarded the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his 20 years of dedicated service to the SUO. We also want to congratulate our Y.U.O. Podium presenters, Poster Session winners, and the recipient of the Y.U.O. Paper of the Year Award, the latter of which was generously sponsored by Nature Reviews in Urology.
With over 330 members, the Y.U.O. continues to be a valued and integral part of the SUO. Residents, fellows, and younger urologists gathered Wednesday evening for the annual Y.U.O. Dinner. Dr. Alexander Kutikov chaired a successful program that focused on "Mentor/Mentee Relationships: A Rudder for One's Early Career," with discussion from Drs. James Montie, David Miller, Angela Smith and Cheryl Lee. Along with SUO Executive Leadership, Dr. Kutikov also launched the “Meet the Professor” initiative where past SUO presidents and board members were invited to the dinner to get to know some of the Y.U.O. members. Thank you to Drs. Robert Flanigan, Ralph de Vere White, Paul Lange, Paul Schellhammer, and Carl Olsson for joining the Y.U.O. at this event.
The inaugural EAU/Y.U.O. exchange scholar was revealed at the meeting; Dr. Samuel Kaffenberger from University of Michigan will be going to Milan to work with Dr. Montorsi and Dr. Alberto Briganti to improve the diagnosis, staging, and treatment of upper tract urothelial carcinoma. The group plans to establish a research collaboration utilizing next generation DNA and RNA sequencing to improve diagnosis and staging of urothelial carcinoma of the upper tract, as well as predict the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Dr. Kaffenberger will also attend the EAU congress in March and we look forward to his report following his visit. Further details on the Y.U.O. Exchange Program as well as how to apply can be found on the Y.U.O. page.
The SUO’s rich history and growth necessitated the establishment of several new positions within the Society. To document its 30 years of activity, SUO has added an Historian to its Board. In addition, the Society created an Educational Committee, which will be responsible for overseeing the new Visiting Professorship Program. By participating in this program, SUO members will be able to visit an institution with an ACGME approved urology residency program in the US or Canada. Further information on this developing program as well as how to apply will be available on the SUO website soon.
Dr. Leonard Gomella completed his term as President, and was succeeded by Dr. Christopher Evans. Dr. Michael Cookson was selected as the new President-Elect, and Dr. Daniel Lin as Treasurer. Thank you to all of the board and committee members who have completed their terms this past December. Your hard work and commitment have been invaluable to the strength and growth of the Society.
The SUO would like to recognize all of the support it received for the annual meeting. A big thank you to all of the industry sponsors and membership support the Society received, without which none of these initiatives would have been possible. The SUO looks forward to seeing members again in May for the SUO 2018 Annual Meeting at the AUA held in San Francisco, California, as well as the 19th Annual Meeting of the SUO this November in Phoenix, Arizona.