History, mandate, and progress |
| |
An important part of the mandate of the WUOF is to serve as the organizing committee for a semi-annual World Urologic Oncology Conference. The plans are for this to occur immediately prior to, and in conjunction with, the SIU meeting, in the same location. The SIU conference traditionally begins on Sunday afternoon; the WUOF conference will take place all day Saturday and Sunday morning prior to each SIU meeting. This conference will focus on international issues in urologic oncology, specifically related to epidemiology, regional differences in practice patterns and the inter-relation between race, region, environment, cancer incidence, and natural history. The conference should be of great interest to urologic oncologists and other urologists interested in a broader perspective on the diseases that we treat. At each conference, an opportunity will be provided for regional groups to meet and develop a consensus on specific management issues in urologic oncology. At the first meeting, in Honolulu in 2004, the groups addressed the management of high risk localized prostate cancer and prostate cancer screening. The variation in perspective by region was fascinating. The results were published in the Canadian Journal of Urology (1). At the 2nd conference, in Capetown in November 2006, the groups addressed the management of high risk superficial bladder cancer, with similarly fascinating results.
The mission of the WUOF, in accordance with its member organizations, is to advance and stimulate education, research, and the highest quality of patient care in the field of urologic oncology.
The goals of the WUOF are to:
- Act as a medium for deliberation, for exchange of ideas, knowledge, skills and experience, and for compiling and disseminating information;
- Organize international congresses, conferences, seminars and courses of instruction;
- Encourage, by all means at its disposal, research into Urologic Cancer as well as measures suitable for their prevention and cure;
- Facilitate the development and coordination of Uro Oncology Fellowship training throughout the world
- Encourage the formation and development of national and regional organizations throughout the world, and assist and stimulate such organizations through the exchange of information;
- Assist National Member Organizations (NMOs) in establishing and developing programs which will further the attainment of its objective, in co-operation with government agencies and other private and public bodies;
- Co-operate with other international organizations, both governmental and non-governmental, in advancing the welfare of patients with Urologic Cancers.
WUOF formally adopted the Journal of Urologic Oncology as its official journal. We anticipate this will be a productive partnership. In future, we anticipate that the journal will publish a supplement based on the presentations at the semi-annual WUOF conference.
The field of urologic oncology faces a number of challenges and opportunities which are similar throughout the world. Clinical practice is shifting towards an increased reliance on image guided therapy and multi-modality therapy. Surgical extirpation of urologic cancer is likely to become less common. Urologic oncologists in the future will likely encompass expertise in systemic therapy, non-invasive ablative therapies, and other non-surgical aspects of care. This raises many issues related to training, scope of practice, and accreditation. The road is likely to have some bumps. Successes in one region will help those in other regions as long as there is close communication and collegiality. We believe that the WUOF can play a major role in enhancing communication between urologic oncologists around the world and building bridges between the regional societies, as well as putting on an outstanding and unique World Urologic Oncology Conference every 2 years.
|
