Scientific Summits conference – Mechelen, 9 & 10 May 2025

We have the honour and the pleasure to invite you to our first Scientific Summits conference of 2025, which will take place on Friday May 9 & Saturday May 10.

TOP SPEAKERS, TOP CONTENT

We are proud to once again offer a top scientific program, with excellent Belgian and international key opinion leaders. The program combines case-based discussions and interactive overviews of important novelties in the field of urothelial, prostate and kidney cancer.

Friday 9 & Saturday 10 May 2025

Live meeting

Hotel Van der Valk - Rode-Kruisplein 1-4, 2800 Mechelen, Belgium

Program – Scientific Summits

Friday May 9
12h30 – 14h00 

Lunch and WELCOME

14h00 – 15h35

Bladder cancer

Moderator: Dr. Marc Claessens, Urology, AZ Klina, Brasschaat, Belgium

14h00 – 14h15
NMIBC: Case presentation and multidisciplinary advice.
Speaker: Dr. Henri Van Eecke, Urology resident, Maria Middelares Gent

14h15 – 14h35
Current best treatment for high-grade NMIBC
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Paolo Gontero, Urology, Molinette Hospital, University School of Medicine, Torino, Italy (Online)

14h35 – 15h00
Urinary markers in NMIBC: ready to replace cystoscopy?
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Fred Witjes, Urology, Radboud UMC, The Netherlands

15h00 – 15h10
Interactive discussion

15h10 – 15h25
Is there a place for early cystectomy in NMIBC?
Speaker: Dr. Wesley Verla, Urology resident, Gent University Hospitals, Belgium

15h25 – 15h35
Interactive discussion
Panel:
Dr. Thomas Adams, Urology, ZAS, Antwerp, Belgium
Prof. Dr. Fred Witjes, Urology, Radboud UMC, The Netherlands.
Prof. Dr. Christof Vulsteke, Medical Oncology, AZ Maria Middelares, Gent, Belgium
Dr. Frederiek D’Hondt, Urology, Azorg, Aalst Belgium

15h35 – 16h00

Coffee break

16h00 – 17h45

Kidney cancer

16h00 – 16h20
Best of systemic treatment easily explained
Speaker: Dr. Wim Demey, Medical Oncologist, AZ Klina, Brasschaat, Belgium

16h20 – 16h35
Low-volume metastatic kidney cancer: Case presentation and multidisciplinary advice.
Speaker: Dr. Eduard Roussel, Urology resident, Leuven University Hospitals, Belgium

16h35 – 16h55
De novo low-volume metastatic kidney cancer: still a place for cytoreductive surgery?
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Charles Van Praet, Urology, Gent University Hospitals, Belgium

16h55 – 17h15
What is the role of modern radiotherapy?
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Gert De Meerleer, Radiation Oncology, Leuven University Hospitals, Belgium
Panel:
Prof. Dr. Cédric Draulans, Radiation Oncology, AZ Sint Maarten, Belgium
Prof. Dr. Karel Decaestecker, Urology, AZ Maria Middelares, Gent, Belgium
Prof. Dr. Christof Vulsteke, Medical Oncology, AZ Maria Middelares, Gent, Belgium

17h15 – 17h45
Interactive discussion

17h45 – 18h00
Any other business

18h00 – 19h00

Satellite symposium by Johnson & Johnson

Title: Living with Prostate Cancer: The Patient Voice
Speaker: Dhr. André Deschamps
Moderator: Prof. Steven Joniau

19h00

Networking Reception & Congress Dinner

Saturday May 10
09h30 – 10h35

Prostate cancer I

Moderator: Dr. Marc Claessens, Urology, AZ Klina, Brasschaat, Belgium.

09h30 – 09h50
How improving anatomic knowledge improves your radical prostatectomy. Speaker: Prof. Dr. Jochen Walz, Urology, Institut Paoli-Calmettes Cancer Centre, Marseille, France

09h50 – 10h00
Interactive discussion
Panel:
Prof. Dr. Gert De Meerleer, Radiation Oncology, Leuven
University Hospitals, Belgium
Dr. Alexander Giesen, Urology resident, Leuven University
Hospitals, Leuven, Belgium
Prof. Dr. Geert Villeirs, Radiology, Gent University
Hospitals, Belgium
Prof. Dr. Cédric Draulans, Radiation Oncology, AZ Sint
Maarten, Mechelen, Belgium

10h00 – 10h20
Germ-line and somatic BRCA mutations: how and when to ask for.
Speaker: Dr. Franceska Dedeurwaerdere, Clinical Pathology, AZ Delta, Roeselare, Belgium

10h20 – 10h35
Interactive discussion
Panel:
Dr. Thomas Adams, Urology, ZAS, Antwerp, Belgium
Prof. Dr. Christof Vulsteke, Medical Oncology, AZ Maria Middelares, Gent, Belgium
Prof. Dr. Jochen Walz, Urology, Institut Paoli-Calmettes Cancer Centre, Marseille, France

10h35 – 11h00

Coffee break

11h00 – 12h15

Prostate cancer II

Multidisciplinary and case-based discussions.

Case 1: localised disease: surgery versus stereotactic body radiotherapy.
Speakers:
Prof. Dr. Lorenzo Tosco, Urology, Institut Jules Bordet, Brussels, Belgium
Prof. Dr. David Dearnaley, Radiation Oncology, RMH London, UK

Case 2: locally advanced disease with PSMA PET-positive pelvic lymph node: still room for cure?
Speaker:
Dr. Alexander Giesen, Urology resident, Leuven University
Hospitals, Belgium
Prof. Dr. Gert De Meerleer, Radiation Oncology, Leuven
University Hospitals, Belgium
Panel:
Prof. Dr. Jochen Walz, Urology, Institut Paoli-Calmettes Cancer Centre, Marseille, France
Prof. Dr. Gert De Meerleer, Radiation Oncology, Leuven University Hospitals, Belgium
Prof. Dr. Christof Vulsteke, Medical Oncology, AZ Maria Middelares, Gent, Belgium

12h15 – 12h45

Ethics and economy: Healthy investment decisions in need ofreal-world evidence (RWE): The case of proton therapy.
Speaker: Prof. Walter Van Dyck, Hoogleraar Healthcare Management Centre, Vlerick Business School, Belgium.
Panel:
Dr. Filip Ameye, Urology, AZ Maria Middelares Gent, Belgium
Dhr. Owen Thiers, Independent Investment expert, Belgium

12h45 – 12h55

Interactive discussion

12h55 – 13h00

Closing remarks