UICC Selects ASCP to Host Prestigious 2021 World Cancer Leaders’ Summit in Boston, MA, October 2021

ASCP has been selected to host the 2021 World Cancer Leaders’ Summit in Boston, MA, in October 2021. The prestigious, invitation-only event—organized by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC)—annually brings together key decision makers including prime ministers, ministers of health, city and industry leaders, senior executives and other influential players from around the world to facilitate debates about emerging issues related to cancer control. More than 400 global influencers and leaders in cancer control and public health from across governments, United Nations agencies, academia, nonprofit organizations and the private sector are expected to make their way to Boston in October 2021. The Summit will occur the day before the ASCP 2021 Annual Meeting, to be held October 27-29, in Boston.

“ASCP is honored to be chosen by the UICC in this highly competitive selection process,” saidE. Blair Holladay, PhD, MASCP, SCT(ASCP)^CM, Chief Executive Officer. “It underscores the vital role that pathology and laboratory medicine play in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. We are excited to be the voice of our profession in this endeavor to develop a coordinated and effective response to the global cancer epidemic.” 

For the WCLS in 2021, in addition to a strong partnership with the City of Boston and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 17 US-based organizations are supporting the event including Partners Healthcare, Massachusetts General Hospital, Partners in Health, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, MD Anderson Cancer Center, UCSF Helen Diller Cancer Center, The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, American Cancer Society, American Society for Clinical Oncology, Susan G. Komen Foundation, Global Oncology, Oncology Nursing Society, International Society of Nurses Cancer Care, RTI International, The Max Foundation, and Project ECHO.

“The overwhelming support from some of our key collaborators has been amazing, and ASCP is truly excited to expand our umbrella of collaboration to include other cancer organizations around the world as we strive to provide the best possible meeting in which all voices are represented,” said ASCP President Gene P. Siegal, MD, PhD, FASCP.

The UICC, the largest and oldest international cancer-fighting organization, made the announcement following its February board meeting.

“The choice of Boston is rooted in the city’s crucial role in global cancer innovation and domestic cancer control leadership in the United States,” said Dr. Cary Adams, Chief Executive Officer of the UICC. “With many of the country’s thought health leaders in Boston, the 2021 Summit will launch renewed domestic and global efforts to combat the disease.”

The 2021 Summit focus will be developed in the coming months and will center around both domestic challenges for cancer in the United States as well as global challenges in cancer. For the past five years, the Summit has grown to become a major, annual high-level policy meeting dedicated exclusively to furthering global cancer control. It provides an important forum to secure a coordinated, multi-level global response to address the spiraling cancer epidemic. The last World Cancer Leaders’ Summit in Kazakhstan ended with a strong call to action urging governments to fulfil their commitments to Universal Health Coverage.

The Summit is held in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and is hosted by a UICC-member organization from the region.

“The patient is at the center of all that we do as pathologists and medical laboratory professionals,” said ASCP CMO, Dan Milner, MD, MSc, FASCP. “Taking this message and this requirement for equitable cancer care to the thought leaders of the world can be an incredible force for change for our patients. Doing so in Boston, an epicenter of biotechnology, clinical care, public health, and education, will be paramount to successful change.”

ASCP is the world’s largest organization for pathologists and laboratory professionals supporting activity in more than 100 countries. The Society’s global health initiatives have focused on HIV and cancer, with efforts on the latter currently taking place in more than 20 countries and in collaboration with more than 80 organizations, from academia to industry, governments and NGOs.