Report: The Big PCa game-changers for 2025!

In an auditorium packed to capacity, the ‘Game-changing’ session today offered a concise wrap-up of an exceptional year in oncology research, particularly for prostate cancer patients. Read this report summarising the presentations on PSMAddition, AMPLITUDE, CAPItello-281, and EMBARK results.

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Webcasts of the day

CREST
T. Powles, London (GB)

CC Case: Systemic treatment for RCC – What to do with the primary tumour? Take it out or let the drug do the work?
U.  Vogl, Bellinzona (CH), G.  Pignot, Marseille (FR), and Y.  Ürün, Ankara (TR)

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Report: Hereditary GU cancers session examines BRCA and PRS

Is prostate cancer (PCa) risk elevated in individuals with BRCA mutations? What is the potential of polygenic risk score (PRS) in PCa screening? Experts explored these topics during “Plenary Session 8: Hereditary genito-urinary cancers” held on day 3 of EMUC25.

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Photos from the congress floor in Prague

Check out our photo albums of Day 3 of EMUC25 and Abstract Award winners on Facebook. Share your photos and stories on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X as well.

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Best EMUC25 Abstracts

O04: Real world evidence of adjuvant pembrolizumab in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) from a Spanish registry: The ARENAL trial from the GUARD consortium.
M.I. Galante Romo, Madrid (ES)

O01: ONE SHOT – single shot radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer: primary endpoint results of a single arm, multicenter, prospective phase I/II trial
T. Zilli, Bellinzona (CH)

O03: Secondary outcomes by prior definitive treatment (tx) in patients (pts) with high-risk biochemically recurrent prostate cancer (hrBCR) treated with enzalutamide plus leuprolide (enza combo): EMBARK post hoc analysis
A.S. Rannikko, Espoo (FI)

The post Highlights from Day 3 appeared first on EMUC25.

Session report: EMUC25 invokes mindset shift toward sustainability

“Healthcare is the fifth largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world” was a recurring claim in Plenary Session 1: Innovating for a sustainable future in genito-urinary cancer care: The road to 2050. The session featured sustainability in diagnosis and staging, as well as in treatments for radiation therapy, surgery, and medical oncology.

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Webcasts of the day

Kidney cancer – localised and locally advanced
RCC with venous thrombosis: optimal imaging for surgical planning and imaging-guided surgery
L. Bianchi, Bologna (IT)

Multidisciplinary case discussion: A stromal tumour in an unexpected location: Prostate
S.  Spohn, Freiburg (DE), R.  Flippot, Villejuif (FR), J.  Gómez Rivas, Madrid (ES), R.  Montironi, Ancona (IT), H.  Thoeny, Fribourg (CH)

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Session report on NMIBC: BCG failure, biomarkers and cost-effective treatments

Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer was featured in Plenary Session 4 today, with an insightful lecture from Dr. Chiara Mercinelli (IT) on ‘Failure after BCG systemic treatment”, Prof. Carmen Jeronimo (PT) presenting on “Urinary biomarkers for monitoring of NMIBC”, and Prof. Ashish Kamat (US) sharing the latest data review of the most cost-effective treatments for NMIBC failure.

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Photo impressions of the day

Check out our photo albums of Day 2 of EMUC25 and Abstract Award winners on Facebook. Share your photos and stories on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X as well.

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Best EMUC25 Abstracts

O07: Sasanlimab in combination with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) in BCG-naive, high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (HR NMIBC): Exploratory analysis of patients with very HR (VHR) disease from the phase 3 CREST trial
E.N. Xylinas, Paris (FR)

O05: Treatment with Oxaliplatin or Cisplatin in Combination with Gemcitabine ± Paclitaxel for Platinum-resistant Germ Cell Cancer: Results from a Multi-institutional Retrospective Study
C. Oing, Newcastle upon Tyne (GB)

O06: Association of Pathologic Response and Survival Outcomes in Muscle-Invasive Urothelial Cancer Following Different Neoadjuvant Therapies
Z. Myint, Lexington (US)

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EMUC25 Resource Centre

Missed a session? All webcasts, videos, posters and full-text abstracts EMUC25 are available via the Resource Centre.

For participants, viewing EMUC25 webcasts will also earn you CME accreditation. Webcasts are accredited up until Monday, 17 November 2025 (13:00 CET).

The post EMUC25: Day 2 highlights appeared first on EMUC25.

Dr. Salvatore La Rosa (US), Chief Scientific Officer of the KCA is enthusiastic about their contribution to the EMUC24 programme: “As a non-profit advocacy organisation, we are thrilled to collaborate with EMUC this year to deliver cutting-edge research summaries and valuable kidney cancer education to attendees. Our aim is to empower clinicians with the knowledge and tools they need to provide the highest quality care for their patients.”

“In today’s digital age, patients and their families have access to vast amounts of information online about their diagnoses. However, it’s crucial that they receive accessible, evidence-based, and up-to-date information about kidney cancer to make informed decisions and advocate for their options. We hope to reach more health professionals with information that can be passed on to their patients, ultimately helping them to navigate their cancer journey with confidence.”

“For KCA, whose mission is to find a cure for kidney cancer, this collaboration is a unique opportunity to bring together experts from various specialties to address the latest topics and challenges in renal cancer. This is particularly significant with urologists, who are often not as involved in kidney cancer patient care as they should. By leveraging the EMUC platform, we also aim to draw more attention from other specialists to kidney cancer and attract them to the field by presenting them with the unique challenges our patients face at every step of their journey.”

What’s on the agenda?

The first KCA plenary session will take place on Friday 8 November from 16:15 till 17:30 and will feature presentations on several key practice-changing studies, including trial results from FASTRACK, KEYNOTE 564 OS, and SUNNiFORCAST. There will also be a debate on evidence for local tumour control in metastatic RCC with a review of current retrospective data and ongoing phase II and III trials in this setting. For cytoreductive nephrectomy, urologist Dr. Géraldine Pignot (FR) will present on PROBE and NORDICSUN, and for radiation oncologist, Dr. Anna Bruynzeel (NL) will present on stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR).

Experience a WoodFire® session

The second KCA Plenary Session will take place on Saturday 9 November from 11:40 till 12:45 and will introduce a unique format to the EMUC24 programme called a WoodFire® session.

Dr. La Rosa explains: “This is essentially a live tumour board. It got its name due to the quick-fire, high-pressure nature of how our late Board of Directors Chair, Dr. Christopher G. Wood, a renowned surgeon at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, grilled his peers about how they might treat someone with kidney cancer – all in good fun! It is fascinating to hear how differently a surgeon might approach a single case versus a medical oncologist versus a urologist, and so on. WoodFire® is both a glimpse at how much we must learn from each other and a testament to how much everyone cares about achieving a good outcome for the patient.”

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The 16th European Multidisciplinary Congress on Urological Cancers (EMUC24) is set to take place in Lisbon, Portugal from 7-10 November 2024. Each year the congress brings together leading experts across various genitourinary cancer disciplines to share their insights on best practices, key clinical trial developments, and the latest scientific advancements. You can view the full EMUC24 scientific programme and take advantage of registration savings if you sign up before 24 October, 2024 (23:59 CEST).

The post A new collaboration with the Kidney Cancer Association appeared first on EMUC25.

“It is up to well-designed prospective studies to determine their exact indication and place in the landscape in the treatment of metastatic uro-oncology patients. But established therapies and treatment regimens also need to be re-evaluated, for instance the duration of androgen deprivation in primary radiotherapy for localised high-risk prostate cancer.”

Dr. Maurer is co-chairing the ‘New Trials Update’ session at EMUC19, the 11^th European Multidisciplinary Congress on Urological Cancers. This session will give participants an update on upcoming and currently running trials in onco-urology. Maurer: “The presented studies and data all serve to guide the practising urooncologist in their treatment decisions.”

EMUC19 is a collaboration between the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the European SocieTy for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) and the European Association of Urology (EAU). Other chairs of the session are radiation oncologist Dr. Carl Salembier (Brussels, BE) and medical oncologist Prof. Aristotelis Bamias (Athens, GR).

Dr. Maurer currently serves on the Faculty of the Martini-Klinik Prostate Cancer Center at the University of Hamburg-Eppendorf, having joined in July 2018. Previously he was the Senior Attending Physician and Vice Chair at the Department of Urology of the Technical University of Munich. His current main focus is staging, surgical and medical treatment of prostate cancer.

EMUC19 will take place in Vienna (AT) on 14-17 November, also featuring the 8^th Section Meeting of the EAU Section of Urological Imaging, courses by the European School of Urology and many more optional sessions and meetings. The annual EMUC congress is unique in its multidisciplinary approach to urological cancers, featuring speakers from a huge variety of oncology-related disciplines in an attractive and focused scientific programme.

Anticipating results

The New Trials session on Saturday morning (Plenary Session 7) will cover new and ongoing trials like SPCG4, ARAMIS and KEYNOTE 057. Each trial will be presented by a specialist from one discipline and then discussed with another specialist, highlighting the multidisciplinary approach that is favoured for onco-urological conditions.

Results of these trials are hotly anticipated by oncologists and urologists alike, according to Dr. Maurer:

“Although some of the presented studies have recently been presented at other meetings or published in full, updated data will be presented at EMUC19. In this respect, medical oncologists, but also radiation oncologists and urologists who treat onco-urology patients should clearly take the chance to attend this careful selected session to confirm and update their knowledge.”

“For example, in mRCC patients, the longer life expectancy makes sequential therapy likely. In this case the first-line treatment already strongly influences and guides sequential therapy, due to several approved classes of agents in metastatic renal cell cancer. Thus, several considerations have to be taken into account when choosing the initial therapy regime. The introduction of immunotherapy opened a whole new field of therapeutics especially in bladder cancer. For instance, Pembrolizumab could add a new potent option in BCG-refractory non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.”

One example of a trial that will have an impact on daily treatment is the ARAMIS trial. Maurer: “It not only showed significantly increased metastasis-free survival with darolutamide compared to placebo in non-metastatic CRPC patients, but also significant advantages for overall survival, time to pain progression and time to symptomatic skeletal events. These are all relevant endpoints for men suffering from nmCPRC. At the same time an increase in incidence for adverse events was not observed.”

“These findings will likely soon impact daily treatment in this specific patient cohort. But, as mentioned above, the other presented studies also have guideline-changing potential.”

Emerging treatment options

Trials have a huge potential for changing guidelines and treatment options, according to Dr. Maurer: “These days medical oncologists, urologists and radiation oncologists face an increasing number of therapeutic possibilities for systemic treatment of prostate, bladder and renal cell cancer.”

“The trials presented at EMUC19 add significantly to our knowledge and will influence our insights on these diseases – which treatment sequence should be chosen in each individual patient or even if treatment is necessary at all and watchful waiting might be the best option. However, surely we can expect further advancements on our way to personalised and individualised cancer treatment in the future.”

As the EMUC congress represents the medical world’s commitment to multidisciplinary approach, onco-urological trials also reflect the cooperation of the involved disciplines.

“Within the last years we can observe an ever-increasing cooperation between the different medical disciplines in daily practice within interdisciplinary and even molecular tumour boards. Due to the increasing complexity of multimodal treatment regimens this is on the other hand a prerequisite for successful modern onco-urology.”

Dr. Maurer feels that the EMUC congress sets a great example: “It has been a great success since its introduction as a platform for mutual exchange between medical oncologists, urologists, radiation experts as well as (not to forget!) imaging specialists. The ESUI’s annual meeting has recently become a valuable ‘pre-congress’ to EMUC. As specialists, I think that we can all agree that multidisciplinary management of onco-urological patients is integral to our success!

The post Trial presentations to have “Guideline-changing potential” appeared first on EMUC25.

Speakers included urologists, pathologists, medical oncologists and a urological researcher, each giving the audience of around 50 different insights on bladder cancer treatment from their respective specialities. Urologist Prof. Hein Van Poppel (Leuven, BE) and pathologist Prof. Montironi (Ancona, IT) chaired the session, although the latter was briefly replaced by Prof. Antonio Lopez-Beltran (Lisbon, PT) (also a pathologist) in his absence.

Update on BCa Treatments

The symposium started with a broad and up-to-the-minute update on BCa treatment by medical oncologist Prof. Susanne Osanto (Leiden, NL). Prof. Osanto first gave an overview of the current treatment options for bladder cancer, listing some recent developments and their implications for treatment. She then highlighted some trends that point to the future of the field: the increasing importance of the molecular pathologist.

“Molecular profiling will become increasingly relevant for choosing the right treatment for our patients,” Osanto said. “They already offer prognostic or predictive markers. In future, mutations will be actionable. In 2014, Nature published a so-called ‘genomic landscape of bladder cancer’, featuring many subsets and profiles. It is not yet known if the data are strong enough, and validation will be required. This will be an expensive process.”

Looking ahead, Prof. Osanto pointed to an increased use of checkpoint inhibitors (metastatic 2L and 1L, neo and adjuvant space and even in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer). Combinations of chemo- and immunotherapy and in future systemic therapy will be used in metastatic and high-risk non-muscle invasive and invasive or metastatic bladder cancer.

“All these strategies in muscle and non-muscle invasive bladder cancer should also be tested in upper urinary tract cancers,” Prof. Osanto emphasised.

Pathology

A significant part of the Symposium was then dedicated to the pathologist’s perspective, as Dr. Maurizio Colecchia (Milan, IT) explained their methods and standards. The International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR) has established international standards for evaluation and reporting.

“Our goals are to provide accurate macroscopic and microscopic evaluation of features with diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic value. We then offer personalised pathology reports based on the latest international standards (ICCR). Additional tissue studies including molecular investigations for personalized therapies are strongly recommended.”

Prof. Van Poppel then raised the surgeon’s perspective, eliciting clear and practical advice from Dr. Colecchia and the other pathologists. Prof. Lopez-Beltran explained the necessity for both the ‘freshness’ of the tissue sample and its shape. “Urologists need to realise how to best deliver the specimen. I ask the clinicians in my centre to give a cut, transversal or otherwise. This allows the formalin to fully penetrate the sample, which should not be too big or surrounded by layers of fat.”

Prof. Lopez-Beltran proceeded to give an overview of changes in the bladder resulting from treatment for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, including BCG, mitomycin-C, and also ketamine, which might have been taken in a recreative setting. Prof. Montironi then did the same for muscle-invasive.

Potential of immuno-oncology

Medical oncologist Prof. Andrea Necchi (Milan, IT) gave a talk on the role of checkpoint inhibition in bladder cancer, introduced as a particularly hot topic by Prof. Van Poppel.

Necchi gave a wide-ranging overview of the latest developments in the field of immuno-oncology (IO), citing the latest studies as presented at ESMO 2018 in Munich only days before. The first data regarding neoadjuvant use of pembrolizumab and chemotherapy for locally advanced urothelial cancer (C. Holmes et al) were briefly summarised by Necchi, who gave the personal recommendation. “In selected patients, we should really be brave and continue immunotherapy instead of complicating the process with chemotherapy. Patients are also often happy to not receive chemotherapy.”

Speaking generally and looking to the near future, Necchi pointed out that pathologic response rates observed in single-agent IO studies are promising: “but we need to confirm the association with long-term improved outcomes.”

“Chemotherapy plus IO combinations are now even more attractive in neoadjuvant setting. IO, on its own or combined, is poised to make a significant impact in the management of localised muscle-invasive disease. This requires the right trial design.”

Prof. Van Poppel latched onto Prof. Necchi’s point about recommending single rather than combined immunotherapy. Necchi conceded that there was also a commercial dimension at play between the academic perspective and the perspective of the companies. “The bigger trials are initiated by companies that have an interest in offering chemotherapy options and these trials are currently pushing developments in that direction.”

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