After a long year of virtual meetings, the Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) is looking forward to hosting an in-person meeting again this December. Our 22nd Annual/Winter Meeting will be held December 1–3, 2021 at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes. Due to unforeseen circumstances related to the pandemic, we were unable to hold the meeting in Washington, D.C. After a thorough review of available properties, the SUO Board decided to remain on the East Coast, and chose Orlando because of the number of direct flights from most cities in the U.S. The JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes is also a beautiful property and will provide an excellent setting for our meeting.

Encore Registration

After the success of last year’s virtual conference, the SUO will once again provide a virtual option for attendees who are unable to travel for the meeting. All presentations will be recorded and posted on the virtual meeting platform the week after the meeting for on-demand viewing and claiming CME. Attendees who register for the in-person conference will also have access to the platform and will be able to watch any sessions they may have missed or revisit a particular lecture.

November 30 Bladder Cancer Course

The SUO has developed a new course focused on bladder cancer which will be presented on Tuesday, November 30, prior to the start of the meeting. Constructed by Dr. Seth Lerner, Dr. Andrea Apolo and our Education Committee, this program addresses a need identified by membership to cover new advancements in the research and treatment of bladder cancer. Topics include the challenges in clinical staging of muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) and utility of re-staging transurethral resection of bladder tumor prior to and following neoadjuvant therapy, biology and predictive biomarkers of T1 high-grade nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer, adaptive perioperative therapy for MIBC trials, the role of surgical or radiotherapy consolidation and check maintenance immunotherapy, practice changing clinical trials, translating genomics into clinical practice, and upper urinary tract cancers.

SUO/YUO Symposium on Clinical Research & Clinical Trials

The SUO/Young Urologic Oncologists (YUO) Symposium on Clinical Research & Clinical Trials will be returning this year on Wednesday, December 1, prior to the start of the meeting. This year’s topics will focus on registry trials for urological disorders, the resources needed to design and implement an investigator initiated surgical trial, starting a health services research program, and how to bring clinical trials to a small institution. We will also unveil a new Clinical Trial Development Workshop this year, which is a yearlong program for SUO Fellows and YUO Members to receive mentorship in the development of a clinical trial concept. During the year the participants will work to complete a clinical trial protocol while receiving input from their mentors. They will also receive training in clinical trial development.

Scientific Program

Led by this year’s Winter Chairs, Drs. Peter Clark and Kirsten Greene, our program committee has assembled another excellent program with world-renowned faculty. The meeting content will provide current and relevant information that will provide an immediate impact on patient care. Our program will begin Wednesday afternoon with 2 special sessions on Transperineal Prostate Biopsy and Risk Stratification in Prostate Cancer. Drs. Tracy Downs and Robert Dreicer will provide this year’s State-of-the-Art Lectures on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Breakthroughs in Adjuvant Therapy for Renal Cell Carcinoma, respectively.

We are also honored to announce this year’s award lecturers. For the 2021 Huggins Medal, it is our privilege to award Dr. Curtis Pettaway. Dr. Patrick Walsh will be the second ever recipient of the Joseph A. Smith, Jr. Mentorship Award, created in Dr. Smith’s honor. We are also excited to recognize Dr. Gerald Andriole who received the 2021 Richard D. Williams, MD Prostate Cancer Research Excellence Award earlier this year from the Urology Care Foundation. Lastly, we are pleased we could continue our ongoing Exchange Lectureship with the European Association of Urology (EAU) by welcoming Dr. Maria Mir from Spain as this year’s EAU Lecturer.

Our program will round out with the traditional sessions from the various organ site committees, including sessions on early prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment, surgical and therapeutic treatment of penile cancer, upper tract urothelial carcinoma, new treatments in renal cell carcinoma, and more. The SUO-Clinical Trials Consortium will also provide an update to members on their ongoing trials, and we’ll hear from our Research Scholars on the status of their projects. The full program is available on our website.

Electronic Posters

The SUO will incorporate digital posters for this year’s accepted abstracts to maximize their visibility to both in-person and virtual attendees. Accepted abstract presenters will be able to upload an electronic image of their poster, which will be available to registrants before, during and after the conference. Authors will also be able to record a brief video to accompany their e-poster to expand upon the research presented. Additionally, the virtual meeting platform will allow attendees to comment and ask questions at any point, which the authors can then answer in real time or return to later. In-person attendees will still be able to review the posters in a dedicated viewing area. Electronic posters will be less demanding logistically as well, as they will occupy less space, create less waste from discarded posters, don’t require any turnover time from one session to the next, and authors won’t have to jump between boards if they have more than 1 accepted submission.

Social Events

Networking with colleagues and old friends is another important aspect of our Annual Meeting. We will have 2 receptions for all attendees on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. The YUO’s program will focus on “International Opportunities and Perspectives in Urologic Oncology” as well as include the traditional presentation by the winner of the “Paper of the Year” award. The Women in Urologic Oncology subsection will also host their reception Thursday evening, and all attendees, both members and nonmembers, are welcome.

We are looking forward to providing a safe and successful meeting. We encourage vaccinations for all attendees, will require masking and social distancing and want all attendees to use appropriate precautions during the meeting. We hope to see you all in Orlando!