Why Read the 2019 Report of the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference 2019? – A Supplemental Commentary

From the 29th to the 31st of August 2019, the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference 2019 (APCCC) took place in Basel, Switzerland. The report of the APCCC conference was just published in early 2020 in European Urology.   

While existing guidelines can summarize the existing evidence and form treatment recommendations, there are many areas in the management of patients with advanced prostate cancer where:
  • There is no available evidence from large prospective randomized trials
  • The evidence is sparse or only low-level
  • The existing evidence is conflicting or the interpretation of the evidence is conflicting

To address exactly these areas, APCCC prepares a large number of consensus questions that are voted on by a panel of 70 international prostate cancer experts at the end of the conference. For 2019 the following 10 areas have been identified and for each area, a number of questions were discussed and voted on at APCCC 2019:

Areas of controversy
  1. Locally advanced prostate cancer (APC) Q1-8
  2. Biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer after local therapy Q9-19
  3. Management of the primary tumor in the metastatic setting Q20-23
  4. Newly diagnosed, hormone-sensitive/naïve prostate cancer (HSPC) including oligometastatic prostate cancer Q24-62
  5. Management of nmCRPC (M0 CRPC) Q63-71
  6. Management of mCRPC Q72-84
  7. Bone and bone metastases Q85-96
  8. Molecular characterization: tissue and blood Q97-112
  9. Heterogeneity of patients with prostate cancer (ethnicity, elderly) Q113-120
  10. Side effects of hormonal treatments and their management Q121-123

The report of APCCC 2019 summarizes the scientific background on each topic, presents results of the consensus votings per question und discusses the results.

The reasons why you should read the APCCC 2019 report:
  • The management of men with advanced prostate cancer keeps changing rapidly
  • APCCC focuses on areas where the evidence is limited and that are not covered in guidelines or where guidelines do not provide clear recommendations
  • Compare your treatment strategies with the expert panel votings
  • The results are intended to serve as a guide to clinicians to assist in the discussions with patients as part of a shared and multidisciplinary decision-making process

Save the date for APCCC 2021 – the next APCCC will take place in Lugano, Switzerland, 7-9 October 2021.

Be inspired and organize an APCCC satellite meeting for your country or region and discuss the consensus questions relevant to your practice! More information can be found here

Successful meetings including publications have been held after the previous APCCC conferences:
Written by: Silke Gillessen, MD, Professor and Chair in Genitourinary Oncology Systemic Therapy Research at The University of Manchester and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, England, and Aurelius Omlin, MD, Head Doctor and Head of Disease Groupe Urogenital, Clinic for Medical Oncology and Hematology, Kantonnospital St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland; Co-founders of the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference (APCCC)

Related Content: 

Watch: APCCC 2019 Video Interviews

Conference Coverage: APCCC 2019 articles