Dear distinguished guests, esteemed researchers, and members,
Welcome to the 8th Biennial Meeting of Asian Society of Gynecologic Oncology (ASGO 2023). In light of the downward trend of COVID-19 pandemic, the conference will be held in physical forms this year in Taiwan.
In these 3 years, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought significant challenges to the healthcare industry and impacted the lives of many people around the world. Despite these challenges, we are grateful to be able to come together to share the cutting-edge research in gynecologic oncology today. We are proud to bring different countries' experts and professionals together who are dedicated to advancing our understanding of gynecologic cancers. This conference will offer us a unique opportunity to exchange knowledge and experiences among experts and healthcare professionals. Through the interaction, we will not only discuss the latest clinical developments in gynecologic cancer, but will also explore the latest diagnosis, management, and prevention of gynecologic cancers. We will learn from each other, collaborate on new ideas, and explore ways to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.
I encourage everyone to take advantage of the opportunities and make the most out of this conference and I wish you have a productive and inspiring experience. Once again, we welcome you to ASGO 2023. Thank you for joining us.
Peng-Hui Wang
TAGO President
Confident in the success of the ASGO Taipei 2023 meeting
How are you, colleagues? I’m Jae-Weon Kim, ASGO President for the year 2022-2023.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020 and lasted for almost three years, is finally ending this year, and the previous conference structure has been fully reinstated. Of course, the most common format for meetings now is a hybrid one that includes both online and in-person components. The ASGO Taipei 2023 meeting will be adaptable and mindful of the demands of the area. The Taipei meeting will be the 15th ASGO gathering since its foundation. Beginning with its inaugural meeting in 2008 and its first Biennial meeting in Tokyo at the end of 2009, ASGO has hosted regular meetings every two years. In the intervening years, we organized a workshop on gynecologic oncology.
Recently we have seen unprecedented progress in our field. For example, it has recently been demonstrated that PARPi first-line maintenance therapy increases overall survival in epithelial ovarian cancers, and several medicines, including ADCs, are currently being studied in this field. The recent addition of pembrolizumab to cytotoxic drugs after bevacizumab was first added to treat recurrent cervical cancer has led to a median overall survival of over two years. The effectiveness of numerous immuno-oncology drugs has created new therapeutic possibilities for endometrial cancer.
ASGO is one of the well-known international societies in the arena of gynecologic cancer. By the way, ESMO Asia, ASCO Breakthrough, and other relevant meetings are competing in the field in addition to SGO, ESGO, and IGCS, and ESMO has formed a distinct gynecologic cancer conference demonstrates how hot the topic of gynecologic cancer has recently become. How can ASGO survive in an atmosphere of this kind of intense competition? It's a challenge for all of us.
Reflecting on these trends, this year’s Taipei meeting will cover high-income nations' problems and LMIC countries' fundamental challenges. The Radiotherapy Group, Cancer Registry, JGO, and Clinical trial groups will all have sessions. Moreover, the Special Task Force (STF)-Personalized Medicine, STF-Fertility Preservation, Education Committee, and Guideline Committee will be able to summarize their work and present their conclusions for 2022~2023 during this year's Taipei meeting. I thank the TAGO (Organizing Committee) members for their tireless efforts in planning such a challenging event.
The ASGO meeting will change from the Bali meeting in 2024 to an annual one. It is critical that the ASGO Taipei 2023 meeting be a success as we move toward this transition, and with the help of our members' active involvement - both in terms of abstract submissions and registration - let's solidify ASGO's status as a venue for debating topics specific to the Asian region. Show off our collective strength and power!
Thank you so much.
Jae-Weon Kim
ASGO President