Alicia Morgans: Hi, my name is Alicia Morgans, and I'm a GU medical oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. I'm so excited to have here with me today, a good friend and colleague, Professor Silke Gillessen, who's the President of the APCCC, and the head of medical oncology, and the Medical and Scientific Director of Oncology, at the Institute of Southern Switzerland, in Bellinzona Switzerland. Thank you so much for being here today with me, Silke.

Silke Gillessen: Thank you, Alicia. We are both in vacation, so that's a good relaxed interview, I guess.

Alicia Morgans: Yes. Yes it is. And it's an exciting interview that we didn't want to miss, because I really wanted to make sure that we talked with you, to share the information about the upcoming APCCC, which is happening in just a few weeks. When is it happening? Where is it happening? And how can people get engaged?

Silke Gillessen: So it's happening from the 28th to the 30th of April. So very soon in reality, four, five weeks. And it is going to happen in Lugano. This is in Switzerland, not in Italy. Even if it sounds very Italian, it's the Italian speaking part of Switzerland. And you see it in my background. So I guess, everyone who was there knows how beautiful it is. It's very close also, to the lake of Como. So it's a really Mediterranean kind of environment, but in Switzerland.

Alicia Morgans: That is wonderful. And of course, people are going to be attending in person. We're excited to have this opportunity again. And we're also really excited, because there are some hot topics that are going to be discussed. Can you share some of those with us?

Silke Gillessen: Yes, of course. We are going to stay also, with the hot topics that we discussed, that we decided for in 2021. So metastatic hormone-sensitive disease, I guess, with ASCO GU, after ASCO GU, we have more new data with our science to discuss. [inaudible 00:01:50] So we take also, these topics we already discussed in 2021, because there is new data. But anyway, a lot of open questions. But we will also return to 2019, and also ask the questions about biochemical relapse, the questions about locally advanced high-risk prostate cancer. And I guess also there is, I mean, a lot has happened since 2019. I guess, I will feel is really dynamic, but we still have open questions. So I guess, we are going to really have this time again, like to the force, for all the management of advanced prostate cancer, like we had it in 2019.

Alicia Morgans: That's fantastic. And leading into this meeting, I'd love for you to just explain to everyone, what's happening, in terms of the panel members? So that when we get to the meeting, we're going to be able to reveal some of this information.

Silke Gillessen: Yes. So because the times that we discussed our bit on study for COVID, now also for more reasons, we decided to make that a hybrid event. So you can come in person. And I think, we will also take some precautions for COVID. This is a bit depending from how the situation evolves, but we will have some precautions. So you shouldn't be too much afraid of that, of these things. But we hope to have a lot of people also on site, but we have also the possibility, for people who can't travel, or not allowed to travel, to follow the whole event also virtually. So I think this is something we learned in 2021, where really, everything was, the travel was very restricted, that maybe, this kind of a hybrid could be a good solution for the future.

And also, because it, we have these unsteady times, we have decided not to do the big voting, with all the panelists on the Saturday morning, as we had done before, but that we do the voting as a survey. So even people from other time zones, who are not allowed to travel, can have their votes. And then, we take this one then, to prepare the manuscript. But we also discuss already, some interesting results of these votings in the meeting. And we will see how that works.

But this is also the other advantage we have with that one, is that we can have now, more than 100 panelists. So we're going to have even more people voting, more experts voting. But the really good news is that, everyone who's a speaker, or a chair, also, almost everyone will be there in person. So at least for the time being, they have all accepted to come, and to be there in presence, except one or two exceptions, that are not allowed for, again, for the COVID to travel.

Alicia Morgans: That is fantastic news, Dr. Gillessen. And I really think that it's going to be a wonderful meeting in person, where the results are actually revealed at the time of the meeting. So make sure everyone, that you please use the link that's right next to this video, and register for the meeting. You can attend virtually, if not in person, but we'll be there in person, if you are able to come. And we really look forward to a wonderful event. Thank you again and congratulations, Dr. Gillessen.

Silke Gillessen: Thank you very much. And can I remind everyone, that people who are coming from low income countries can register for free. So I think, you can take, wherever you are, you can take the opportunity to join us. So thank you very much, Alicia, to give me this opportunity to talk to you during your vacation time.

Alicia Morgans: And during yours. It's a very important conversation. So thank you.