Milan, 26 March 2008 - Today the official press conference of the European Association of Urology was held at the occasion of the 23rd annual EAU congress. There were 52 journalists present who enjoyed lunch and watched a short presentation by Mr Antonio Rossi, Italian Olympic-medal winning canoer and spokesman for the Italian Prostate Awareness Day campaign.

An introduction and words of welcome were directed to all present by Prof. Per-Anders Abrahamsson (Malmö, SE), EAU Secretary-General and Prof. Vincenzo Mirone (Naples, IT), President of the 23rd Annual EAU Congress. Professor Patrizio Rigatti (Milan, IT) was kind enough to translate into Italian for the many Italian journalists present. Then Prof. Walter Artibani, EAU Adjunct Secretary-General and President 23rd Annual EAU Congress (Padua, IT) stressed that it is impossible to name 1 or 2 highlights from among the vast and most interesting scientific programme. He did mention, among other things, the developments in the field of the Human Papilloma Virus, especially the infection grade among men.
 
Prof. Manfred Wirth, EAU Treasurer (Dresden, DE) took the floor to talk about Molecular therapy in urologic oncology. In renal cell carcinoma, sunitinib, sorafenib, temsirolimus, bevacizumab, avastin and everolimus show positive study results. He discussed denosumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody targeting the receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL), a key mediator of the resorptive phase of bone remodeling. In prostate cancer, the novel selective endothelin-A (ETA) receptor antagonist inhibits multiple processes in cancer (tumor cell growth and survival, angiogenesis and pathophysiology of bone metastases).

Nosocomially Acquired Urinary Tract Infections in Urology Departements, a lecture by Prof. Bjerklund Johansen (Århus, DK), discussed the first results from the Global Prevalence Study on Infections in Urology which has been ongoing for several years now. With a reported prevalence of 9.7% in western countries, the economical cost of NAUTI is enormous. The most common pathogen in NAUTI is E coli. Its regional susceptibility to the most commonly used antibiotics was discussed as well as the relative distribution of pathogens within regions and countries. Professor Bjerklund Johansen made it clear that urinary catheters are the most common risk factors. Prevalence of NAUTI will be reduced, among other things, by 0.12 if the department has protocol for catheter insertion and care and 0.002 per patient receiving antimicrobial prophylaxis.

Exciting new network training initiatives in European urology were discussed by Prof. Chris Chapple, EAU Adjunct Secretary-General (Sheffield, UK). Technological advances in treatment, such as laparoscopy, robotic urologic surgery, stem cell research, rebuilding the lower urinary tract (reconstructive urology) were discussed as well as future therapies for erectile dysfunction. Tissue engineered tissues, for example buccal mucosa and bladders, are an exciting future perspective They are histologically comparable, mechanically similar and robust tissue is amenable to surgical manipulation.

The presentation by Peter Mulders (Nijmegen, NL), ' Biomarkers – future diagnostic approach in patients with Renal Cell Cancer and Bladder Cancer', focussed on the future too. Bladder cancer markers can be used for follow-up but not for screening. Marker CA-IX for renal cell cancer, the most aggressive genitourinary cancer, is important for response of therapy.
 

Urosource: the inexhaustable well of urological information is redesigned

UroSource.com is an online service created with the aim to facilitate the retrieval and distribution of specialised medical information, events and related activities ranging from urological meetings down to the latest results of clinical research. It strives to complement the European Association of Urology’s official website, Uroweb, which mainly focuses on publishing information about the EAU’s activities and programmes. During the 23rd annual congress of the EAU, the new design of Urosource was introduced.

Work on the new design has resulted in a clear, bright, user-friendly layout which gives access to a vast amount of information about urology. There is clearly a need for comprehensive information for and by urological professionals, also plainly stating background source and reference material; independence and reliability should be key factors underlying the information provided. Most of us surfing the Web for information simply lack the time to continually assess what we are looking at. We hope we can prove that on this new platform you can find whatever you need and the information you find is most reliable.

Urosource features e.g.:
• A good database of scientific articles
• Breaking news
• Key-article reports
• Meetings and congress reports
• A quick reference to all urological areas
• Most cited articles
• Editor’s choice
• Book reviews

Urosource aims to bridge the gap between science and practice. New material will be posted on a daily basis and the aim is - with the assistance of urological experts - to keep all visitors on their toes.

For more information, please contact:
Lindy Brouwer
EAU communication officer
communicationoffice@uroweb.org
www.uroweb.org
Tel: +31 (0)26 3890680
 

EAU 2008: PRESTIGIOUS AWARD PRESENTATIONS AT OPENING CEREMONY

Milan, 26 March 2008 -- On Wednesday evening, a festive Opening Ceremony was held to officially open the 23rd Annual Congress of the European Association of Urology. The highlights of the first day were discussed by Professors Mirone and Rigatti, two of the three congress presidents. They were preceded by Professor Per-Anders Abrahamsson, EAU Secretary-General, who expressed his gratefulness for the fact that this year again, the congress is visited by more urologists, urologists in training and scientists than ever before.

The EAU is proud to announce the appointment of new EAU Honorary Members. Profs Borkowski (Warsaw, PL), Dvorácek (Prague, CZ), Khoury (Paris, FR), Teillac (Toulouse, FR) and Vela Navarrete (Madrid, ES) accepted this special membership.

The EAU’s most prestigious award, the Willy Gregoir Medal, is presented to an important senior urologist who contributed in an extraordinary way to the development of urology in Europe. This year the award was presented to Professor Pagano from Padua, Italy.

The Frans Debruyne Lifetime Achievement Award is meant to honour and acknowledge the important and long-standing contributions by a distinguished urologist to the activities and development of the association. Professor R. Ackermann from Dusseldorf (DE) was presented with the award.

And the Crystal Matula Award, granted to a promising young(er) urological academician, was presented to Prof. V. Ficarra from Padua (IT).
These awards come with a financial prize of € 10,000.

After the opening ceremony, there was a special performance by the orchestra I Cameristi del Teatro alla Scala, composed of musicians from the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala and the  Filarmonica della Scala. The orchestra has been playing since 1982 in some of the world’s most renowned theatres often in collaboration with directors and soloists such as  Roberto Abbado, Uto Ughi and Salvatore Accardo.

The event is being held at the Milano Convention Centre (MIC) in Milan (IT).

For more information or a copy of the press pack, please contact:

Ms Lindy Brouwer, EAU communication officer
P.O. Box 30016
6803 AA Arnhem
The Netherlands
+31 (0)26 3890680
communicationoffice@uroweb.org