Preliminary Scientific Programme

Scientific session 1

Gastric cancer – bugs and genes

Chairs: Fatima Carneiro (PT) & Marián Hajdúch (CZ)

1. H pylori, EBV and the gastric microbiota – Céu Figueiredo (PT)
2. Molecular classifications – Patrick Tan (SG)
3. The role of exosomes and microRNAs in gastric cancer progression – Ondřej Slabý (CZ)

Scientific session 2

Don’t be afraid of new molecular technologies

Chairs: Tomáš Zima (CZ) & Rupert Langer (CH) & Birgit Luber (DE)

1. Deep tissue imaging: from a preclinical cancer research perspective – Axel Walch (DE)
2. NGS to characterize gastric cancer – Alex Boussioutas (AU)
3. Patient-derived xenografts and organoids – Daniel Stange (DE)

Seminar

Where molecular pathology meets clinical practice 

Chairs: Dalibor Valík (CZ) & Christiane Bruns (DE) & Christof von Kalle (DE)

1. HER2 resistance mechanisms and how to explore them – Birgit Luber (DE)
2. Impact of molecular biology on surgical concepts today – Franco Roviello (IT)
3. From GC molecular classification to novel clinical study concepts – Elizabeth Smyth (UK)

Scientific Session 3

Early Onset and Hereditary Gastric Cancer

Chairs: Fatima Carneiro (PT) & Radka Obermannová (CZ)

1. Outcomes of screening gastroscopy in first-degree relatives of patients fulfilling hereditary diffuse gastric cancer criteria – Annemiek Cats (NL)
2. Surgical management of hereditary gastric cancer and mutation carriers – Richard Hardwick (UK)
3. Early onset gastric cancer – specific care and research needs – Irit Ben-Aharon (IL)
4. Case presentation: Gastric adenocarcinoma and proximal polyposis of the stomach (GAPPS), experience from a family in Czech republic – Lenka Foretová (CZ)

Scientific Session 1 

Pathology of gastric cancer: past, present and future 

Chairs: Robert Gürlich (CZ) & Takaki Yoshikawa (JP) & Christoph Röcken (DE)

1. The many faces of  signet ring cell cancer - Heike Grabsch (NL) 
2. Signet ring cell cancer – Asian perspective
3. Implications for clinical trials – Guillaume Piessen (FI)

Scientific Session 2

How can pathologists help in the selection of patients for target therapy

Chairs: György Bodoky (HU) & Jorge Gallardo Escobar & Cord Langner (DE)

• HER2– Aleš Ryška (CZ)
• Immunotherapy – Rupert Langer (CH)
• Liquid biopsies – Nicole van Grieken (NL)

Workshop

Margin or not to margin – Controversies and discussion about resection margins

Chairs: Christoph Röcken (DE) & Franco Roviello (IT)

• Discussants: Takahiro Kinoshita (JP) & Paulo Kassab (BR)

Scientific Session 1 

Prevention of gastric cancer – Biology and Intervention

Chairs: Julius Špičák (CZ) & Jaroslaw Regula (PL)

1. Standard of endoscopic surveillance of risk lesions  – Andrea May (DE)
2. Endoscopic innovations in diagnosis, screening and surveillance – Tomáš Hucl (CZ)
3. Lifestyle, nutrients, drugs and risk of gastric cancer – Joseph Sung (HK)
4. Prevention by Hp eradication – when and how – Peter Malfertheiner (DE) 

Scientific Session 2 

Early detection of gastric cancer – Standard and Future

Chairs: Thomas Seufferlein (DE) & Gustavo B. Baretton (DE)

1. Early detection of gastric cancer: results from endoscopic surveillance program (GCEP) in a high-risk population – Khay Guan Yeoh (SI)
2. Emerging biomarkers – René Thieme (DE)
3. Plant metabolites – real potential or fiction? – Nadir Arber (IL)

Scientific Session 1

Diagnosis and Staging – Standards and Controversies

Chairs: Lukáš Lambert (CZ) & Henk Hartgrink (NL) & Wojciech Polkowski (PL)

1. Staging and classification of gastric and esophago-gastric junction cancer – The 8th version of TNM - Christian Wittekind
2. Intraoperative imaging techniques for staging of gastric cancer – Alexander Vahrmaijer (NL)
3. Staging after neoadjuvant chemo – what information clinicians should get from their pathologist - Hendrik Bläker (DE)
4. Standardization of endoscopic diagnosis – Thomas Rösch (DE)

Scientific Session 1 

Endoscopic treatment

Chairs: Ondřej Urban (CZ) & Thomas Rösch (DE)

1. What are the indications for endoscopic treatment in gastric cancer?  - Helmuth Messmann (DE)
2. What are the long-term results of endoscopic treatment in early gastric cancer?  - Tsuneo Oyama(JP) 
3. How to manage complications after endoscopic treatment ? – Naohisa Yahagi (JP)

Workshop (2 hours!)

Endoscopic Resection Techniques

Chairs: Štěpán Suchánek (CZ) & Jan Martínek (CZ) & Helmut Messmann (DE)

• Tutors: Tsuneo Oyama (JP) & Naohisa Yahagi (JP) & Oliver Pech (DE)
• Olympus to be contacted to provide 3-4 stations
• Maximum 12 participants

Seminar

Early gastric cancer

• Pro endoscopic resection – Mário Dinis-Ribeiro (PT)
• Pro surgery – Jianping Gong (CN)

Scientific Session 1 

Hot topics in gastric and EGJ cancer surgery

Chairs: Marc Smithers (AU), Yan-Shen Shan (TW), Wojciech Kielan (PL)

1. What means D2 lymphadenectomy 2019 (30 min.)
   
   • Asian Pacific Chapter view – Kent-Man Chu (CN) (5’)
   • European Chapter view -  Paul Schneider (Switzerland) (5’) 
   • Latin-American Chapter view - Paolo Kassab (Brasil) (5’)
   • Discussion
2. Is there any indication for extended lymphadenectomy? (30 min.)
   
   • Asian Pacific Chapter view - Jimmy Bok Yan So (SG) (5’)
   • European Chapter view - Giovanni De Manzoni (IT) (5’)
   • Latin-American Chapter view  - Carlos Benavides (CL) (5’)
   • Discussion
3. How to avoid R1 resection? (30 min.)
   
   • Asian Pacific Chapter view – Hyuk-Joon Lee (KR)  (5’) 
   • European Chapter view - Henk Hartgrink (NL) (5’)
   • Latin-American Chapter view - Ricardo Funke (CL) (5’)
   • Discussion

Scientific Session 2 

Quality Assurance of Gastric and EG Junction surgery

Chairs: William Allum (UK) & Han-Kwang Yang (KR) & Ines Gockel (DE)

1. Surgical standard for gastric cancer – a brief overview - Maurizio Degiuli (IT)
2. European consensus on standardization of complications - Gian Luca Baiocchi (IT)
3. Eastern view on standardization of complications – Yasuyuki Seto (JP)
4. Centralization – does it lead to better quality of care – the EU perspective - Johanna van Sandick (NL) 
5. Centralization – does it lead to better quality of care – the Asian perspective - Hyok-Joon Lee (KR)

Scientific Session 1 

Evidence of laparoscopic surgery for advanced gastric cancer

Chairs: Takaki Yoshikawa (JP) & Franco Roviello (IT) & Dietmar Öfner-Velano (AT)

1. KLASS-2 trial - Sang-Uk Han (KR)
2. Chile trial - Ricardo Funke (CL)
3. JLSSG trial - Tsuyoshi Etoh (JP)
4. LOGICA-trial and the STOMACH-trial - Donald L. van der Peet (NL)
5. Chinese trial – Jiafu Ji (CN)

Scientific Session 2 

Robot-assisted surgery for gastric cancer

Chairs: Masanori Terashima (JP) & Ines Gockel (DE)

1. Japanese perspectives - Ichiro Uyama (JP)
2. Korean perspectives - Woo Jin Hyung (KR)
3. European perspective - Richard van Hillegersberg  (NL)
4. American perspective – Daniel Coit (US)
5. South American perspective – Bruno Zilberstein (BR)

Seminar

Challenge and innovation of laparoscopic surgery

Chairs: Dietmar Lorenz (DE) & Kazunori Kojima (JP) & Suzanne Gisbertz (NL) 

1. Splenic hilar lymph node dissection – Chang-Ming Huang (CN)
2. Laparoscopic and endoscopic collaborative surgery – Naoki Hiki (JP)
3. Novel reconstruction methods in MIS - Amilcare Parisi (IT)

Workshop

Reconstruction after laparoscopic total gastrectomy

Chairs: Hyung-Ho Kim (KR) & Takahiro Kinoshita (JP) & Bas Wijnhoven (NL)

• Lecture and video and discussion. Target: young audience

Scientific Session 1 

Current controversies/debates in the treatment of localized disease:

Chairs: Jimmy Bok Yan So (SG) & Marcel Verheij (NL) & Jiří Hoch (CZ)

1. Pre/peri- vs post-operative radiation strategies – Trevor Leong (AU)
2. Locoregional vs systemic relapse risk – who is needing which treatment? – David IIson (US)
3. Which is the preferred postoperative treatment? – Yasuhiro Kodera (JP)

Scientific Session 2 

Optimizing multidisciplinary management of localized disease

Chairs: Salah-Eddin Al-Batran (DE) & Martin Oliverius (CZ) & Arnaud Roth (CH)

1. How to implement minimally invasive/image-guided surgery? – Magnus Nilsson (SE)
2. The potential value of novel drugs – Andres Cervantes (SP)
3. Optimized radiotherapy strategies – Karin Haustermans (BE)

Workshop

Towards individualized treatment of localized disease

Chairs: Katja Ott (D) & Takako Nakajima (JP) & Milada Zemanová (CZ)

1. Based on Molecular Subtypes 
2. Based on ctDNA – Nicole van Grieken (NL)
3. Based on Imaging & Radiomics - Andrew Barbour (AU)

Seminar

Radiotherapy as part of multimodal treatment in gastric and eg junction cancer

Charis:

1. What do Surgeons Expects from Radiation Oncologists? - Magnus Nilsson (SE)
2. Optimal Treatment Planning for Neoadjuvant Radiotherapy
3. Current studies and perspective of radiotherapy in gastric and EG junction cancer
4. Evidence for Immunotherapy Combined with Radiotherapy for Gastric and EG Junction Cancer

Scientific Session 1

Current status and future directions of systemic treatment in stage IV gastric cancer

Chairs: Radka Obermannová (CZ) & Narikazu Boku (JP)

1. Questions and Challenges for defining 1st line chemotherapy – Anna Dorothea Wagner (CH)
2. Options and choices in second and later lines of treatment – Sylvie Lorenzen (DE)
3. Immunotherapy and targeted therapy: hope or hype – Ian Chau (UK)

Scientific Session 2

Multimodal treatment concepts in stage IV disease

Chairs: Yoon-Koo Kang (KR) & Václav Jedlička (CZ) & Albrecht Stier (DE) 

1. The concept of oligometastatic disease: completed and ongoing randomized trials – Stefan Mönig (CH)
2. Liver metastases: is there a role for surgery ? – Kazuhiro Yoshida (JP)
3. Peritoneal metastases: evidence for peritonectomy, HIPEC and systemic chemotherapy? – Pompiliu Piso (DE)

Workshop

Multimodal treatment in stage IV gastric cancer

Chairs: Yasuhiro Kodera (JP) & Ewald Wöll (AT)

1. Case Presentation Liver Metastases (5 min) - Ewald Wöll (AT)
   
   • Pro surgery of liver metastases (5min) – Young-Woo Kim (KR)
   • Contra surgery of liver metastases (5min) : Peter Thuss-Patience (DE)
   • Discussion (15 min)
2. Case presentation metachronous peritoneal carcinomatosis (5 min) - Yasuhiro Kodera (JP)
   
   • Pro localized treatment (5 min) - Beate Rau (DE)
   • Contra localized treatment (5min) - Markus Möhler (DE)
   • Discussion (15 min)

Scientific Session 1

Immune therapy: standards and perspectives

Chairs: Markus Möhler (DE) & Luboš Petruželka (CZ)

1. Asia vs Non-Asia: Are prognostic and predictive biomarkers for immunotherapy different ? – Kei Muro (JP)
2. New immunotherapy combinations for perioperative and adjuvant indications – Yelena Janjigian (US)
3. Approvals and future development in metastatic first-line, maintenance and later lines  - Yung-Jue Bang (KR)

Scientific Session 2

Novel drugs  (Non-immune therapy)

Chairs: Bohuslav Melichar (CZ) & Yasuhide Yamada (JP) & Li-Tzong Chen (TW) 

1. Angiogenesis inhibition from metastatic to perioperative setting: new data and novel drugs  - Eric Van Cutsem (BE)
2. New (pan)HER inhibitors and combinations: Are they better than established standards? – Kohei Shitara (JP)
3. Personalized treatment: How to overcome tumor heterogeneity – Daniel Catenacci (US)

Scientific Session 1

Economic burden of gastric cancer and treatment in different healthcare systems

Chairs: Paulo Kassab (BRA) & Regina Demlová (CZ)

1. Is it possible to decrease the costs with prevention in public developed countries? – Pauli Puolakkainen (FI)
2. Impact of laparoscopy and robotics in surgery costs: cheaper because of less complications or more expensive due to new technology – Jelle Ruurda (NL)
3. Is it affordable to offer new drugs (immunotherapy and monoclonal antibodies) to all patients in developing countries? - Paulo Gehm Hoff (BR)

Scientific Session 1

Existential Distress and psychological interventions for patients with advanced cancer

Chairs: Anja Mehnert (DE) & Ondřej Sláma (CZ)

1. Prognostic awareness and death anxiety – Sigrun Vehling (DE)
2. Demoralization and associated factors in advanced cancer patients – Leonhard Quintero Garzón (DE)
3. Psychological interventions for patients with advanced cancer – Anja Mehnert (DE)

Scientific Session 2

Perioperative Supportive Care Needs of Patients with Gastric Cancer

Chairs: Radim Němeček (CZ) & Arved Weimann (DE)

1. Prehabilitation – Ines Gockel (DE)
2. Nutrition support – Arved Weimann (DE)
3. Endoscopic interventions – Oliver Pech (DE)
4. Psycho-social aspects of follow-up and cancer survivorship – Annekathrin Sender (DE)

Workshop

Delivering serious news in oncology: Evidence-based recommendations for practice

Chair: Radim Němeček (CZ) & Martin Loučka (CZ)

• Lecture and role play

Workshop

Basis of radiology for surgeons and medical oncologists, basis of chemotherapy for young surgeons, and basis of surgery for young medical oncologists

Chairs: Elizabeth Smyth (UK) & Maria Alsina (EP)

1. Radiology – Richard Mast (ES)
2. Surgery – Kozo Kataoka (JP)
3. Medical Oncology – Sylvie Lorenzen (DE)

Seminar

How  to  deal  with  challenging  cases:  a  cT2N0,  an  N+ Siewert I,  and  with  a  questionable millimetric M1  lymph nodes.

• Panel members Surgery: Sandra Castro Boix (ES), Karol Polom (PL), Orestis Lyros (DE)
• Panel members Medical Oncology: Lucjan Wyrwicz (PL), Elizabeth Smyth (UK), Matthew Ng (SG), Eishi Baba (JP), Marino Venerito (DE)

Jin Pok Kim Lecture

Chairs: Jörg Rüdiger Siewert (DE) & Takeshi Sano (JP)

• Michele Diana (FR)
  Imaging-guided surgery applied to the digestive system

Nishi Takashi Lecture

Chairs: Christian Wittekind (DE) & Fatima Carneiro (PT)

• Professor Frederic Thomas (FR)
  Heterogeneity and Evolution – What Cancer Physicians can Learn from Evolutionary Biology

Session 1

MULTIDISCIPLINARY TREATMENT OF EG Junction Cancer

Chairs: Arnulf Heinrich Hölscher (DE) – Mitsuru Sasako (JP)

• What is the best multimodal approach for EGJ Cancer ?
  Antoine Adenis (FR) - 12’ + 3’ Discussion
• Total Gastrectomy vs Transthoracic Esophagectomy: When and why ?
  Yuko Kitagawa (JP) - 12’ + 3’ Discussion
• EGJ Stage IV : is there any perspective of  Conversion Surgery?
  Stefan Mönig -  12’ + 3’ Discussion
• Signet Ring Cell Adenocarcinoma of the EGJ: what should we do ?
  Guillaume Piessen (FI) - (12’ + 3’ Discussion)
• Minimally Invasive Surgery in Type II Cardia Cancer: Approach and Results
  Takahiro Kinoshita (JP) – 12’ + 3’ Discussion
• Selected Abstract 5’ + 2’ Discussion 
• Selected Abstract 5’ + 2’ Discussion 

Session 2

HOW TO MANAGE COMPLICATIONS IN GASTRIC CANCER SURGERY

Chairs: Takeshi Sano (JP) – Hans-Joachim Meyer (DE)

• What have we learned from Esophageal Surgeons: from ERAS to international standardization and  Benchmarking – Donald E. Low (20’)
• Case Presentation: Diagnosis and treatment. Interactive discussion –  Ana Celeste Correia Lopes Mesquita (PT)  (5’)  
  
  • Discussants (10’): Lúcio Lara Santos (PT)
  • S.M. Chandramohan (IN) 
  • Osvaldo Antônio Prado Castro (BR)  
• Case Presentation : Diagnosis and treatment. Interactive discussion –  Daniele Marrelli (IT)  (5’)
  
  • Discussants (10’): Paolo Morgagni (IT) 
  • Paulo Matos da Costa (PT) 
  • TBC 
• Case Presentation : Diagnosis and treatment. Interactive discussion –  Simone Giacopuzzi  (5’) 
  
  • Discussants (10’): Manuel Pera (ES) 
  • Carlos Alberto Malheiros (BR) 
  • Han Liang 
• Case Presentation : Diagnosis and treatment. Interactive discussion –  Daniel Reim (DE) (5’) 
  
  • Discussants (10’): Uberto Fumagalli Romario
  • Paul Schneider (CH)
  • Hui Cao (CN)

Workshop

SIGNET RING CELL CANCER

Chairs: Fatima Carneiro (PT) – Heike Grabsch (NL)

1. Case Presentation – Poorly Cohesive and Poorly differentiated tumours -  Interactive discussion
   Florence Renaud (FR) 5’ + 10’
2. Case Presentation – Pure SRC and Poorly cohesive tumours: do they have a transitional relationship?
   Anna Tomezzoli (IT) 5’ + 10’
3. Case Presentation – Stromal features in pure SRC and Poorly cohesive tumours
   Tomio Arai (JP) 5’ + 10’

Workshop

Women in Visceral Surgery

Chairs: Suzanne S. Gisbertz & (NL)Maria Bencivenga (IT)

Highlights of the Congress

Chairs: Stefan Mönig (CH), Petra Tesařová (CZ), Han-Kwang Yang (KR)

1. Highlights from Cancer Biology
   Irit Ben-Aharon (IL)
2. Highlights from Surgery
   Magnus Nilsson (SE)
3. Highlights from Multimodal Treatment
   Radka Obermannová (CZ)
4. Building Bridges – Mission Accomplished?
   Florian Lordick (DE)

Workshop

Chairmen: Petra Tesařová (CZ), Teresa Tiano
Introduction: Teresa Tiano

1. How to find the best physician(s) to guide your treatment (5’+10’ Discussion)
   Christine Brezden-Masley
2. The challenge of diet and nutrition – before, during and long after treatment (5’+10’ Discussion)
   Denise Gabrielson
3. The ever changing journey of the gastric cancer patient - Physical & Psycho-Social short and long term side effects and how to manage (5’+10’ Discussion)
4. Integrating health care -  resources, awareness of unique patient needs, etc (5’+10’ Discussion) Christine Brezden-Masley, Denise Gabrielson

Building Bridges I – Connecting East and West

Chairmen: Paul Mansfield (US) – Miroslav Ryska (CZ)  – Bruno Zilberstein (BR) 

1. Epidemiology of Gastric Cancer – a Global Perspective – Ladislav Dušek (CZ)
2. Gastric Cancer Classification and Most Important Medical Needs, Eastern View – Takeshi Sano (JP)
3. Gastric Cancer Challenges and Research Opportunities,  Western View – Florian Lordick (DE) 
4. Presidential Lecture:
   Gastric Cancer Care, a Global Health Problem – Jiafu Ji (CN)]

Building Bridges II – Connecting Tradition and Innovation

Chairmen: Mitsuru Sasako (JP) – Heike Grabsch (NL) – Miroslav Zavoral (CZ)

1. From Traditional Gastric Cancer Treatment to Contemporary Strategies – Masanori Terashima (JP)
2. How to Implement Quality Assurance Today into Contemporary Treatment Concepts – William Allum (UK)
3. The Vision of Precision Surgery – Han-Kwang Yang (KR)
4. Innovative  Perioperative Treatment – a Surgeons Perspective how to Improve Outcomes – Marc Smithers (AU)

Building Bridges III – Connecting Science and Treatment

Chairmen: Florian Lordick (DE) – Giovanni De Manzoni (IT) – Pauli Puolakkainen (FI)

1. The Genetic Features behind Hereditary Gastric Cancer – Fatima Carneiro (Porto, POR)
2. Molecular Classification of Gastric and Esophageal Cancer – A basis for New Treatments? – Adam Bass (UK)
3. The Vision of Molecularly Personalized Drug Treatment of Gastric Cancer – Yelena Janjigian (US)
4. How to Translate New Knowledge into Clinical Studies on Medical Treatment of gastric Cancer – Kohei Shitara (JP)
5. Will Molecular Knowledge Change the Surgical Approach to Gastric Cancer – Yuko Kitagawa (JP)