SSO 2018 offered attendees more content, more flexibility and more opportunities for dialogue. Scientific Program Chairman, Charles Scoggins, MD, MBA explains, “The anatomy of this year’s Annual Cancer Symposium was significantly different than previous years. The Scientific Program Committee (SPC) worked diligently to create an experience to meet the needs of attendees. Two primary changes went into place – increased oral abstracts and sessions and concentrated disease-site tracks.”
SSO 2018 saw an 88% increase in oral abstract presentations and 36% more sessions than previous years. “The goal of the SPC was to provide more opportunities for high-quality data to be presented. To accommodate this goal, Quick Shot Abstracts were added to the program as well as additional sessions.”
A total of 572 abstracts and posters were presented during SSO 2018, along with the Great Debates, four featured lecturers and several Meet the Professor breakfast sessions. Dr. Scoggins said, “The range and quality of content presented at this year’s meeting was exceptional. Dr. Steven Leach’s Basic Science Lecture about cancer biology demonstrated innovative research that has the potential to move treatment forward. The Great Debates were very well received and the SSO Presidential Address, by Kelly McMasters, MD, PhD, was very poignant. I had several attendees tell me that this was the best SSO meeting they have ever attended.”
SSO 2018 represented the first phase of evolution for the Annual Cancer Symposium. As identified in SSO’s three-year strategic plan, one of six strategic plan goals is to “Reimagine the SSO Annual Cancer Symposium.” The Reimagination Task Force met during SSO 2018 and will continue to meet over the next year, with the goal of introducing even more enhancements for SSO 2019 and a completely new meeting experience for SSO 2020.