We spoke to Evangelos Xynos, ESCP's President Elect and former Professor of Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Crete, in the run up to ESCP Virtually Vilnius 2020.

Evangelos, who first joined ESCP in 2005, will chair the Colorectal Cancer session on Wednesday 23 September. His expertise in colorectal cancer, pelvic floor and functional coloproctology is renowned.

The last session of Virtually Vilnius is specifically dedicated to colorectal cancer - a key theme throughout September’s online conference. All lectures will offer invaluable insights into the evolving new landscape of colorectal cancer management strategies, based on the combination of new evidence and established knowledge and practice.

Evangelos Xynos:

"I am delighted to announce that we will hear from a diverse range of excellent European speakers throughout the session who are well known for their expertise within the field. The topics include:

    • The Deficient Mis-Match Repair (d-MMR) status accounted in a distinct group of approximately 15% of sporadic colorectal cancer with a different natural history and more favourable course, also amenable to immunotherapy in loco-regionally advanced and metastatic disease.
    • The d-MMR which is the common denominator of hereditary Lynch syndrome, amenable to prophylactic treatment of carriers and requiring specialised surveillance and surgical approach.
    • The new perspectives of chemotherapy for colon cancer in view i) of the FOXTROT trial at the neo-adjuvant for the locally advanced disease; and ii) the IDEA -real world evidence- trial in the adjuvant setting, that optimizes regimes and duration of treatment as well as the potential value in oncological outcomes of more radical surgery for colon cancer in terms of D3 lymphadenectomy.
    • The shift to less radiotherapy and more chemotherapy in the neo-adjuvant setting for the locally advanced rectal cancer that aims in controlling local and distant recurrence, in view of the first results from the RAPIDO trial will be discussed.
    • The impact on oncological outcomes of the accurate image assessment and the various modalities in tackling the metastatic lateral pelvic lymph nodes in rectal cancer.
    • The place of cytoreduction and the possible added value of hyperthermic intra-peritoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) in peritoneal carcinomatosis from colorectal cancer.

"We will also showcase a comprehensive video on the open TME and listen to the two best papers on colorectal cancer. Live discussion among panelists, lecturers and the attendees will follow each presentation.

"Although the coronavirus pandemic has meant that an in-person meeting in Vilnius will not go ahead, I am very much looking forward to chairing this exciting and highly educational session as part of ESCP’s world-class event this September.

"Of course, I also look forward to meeting you at the Annual Meeting next year."


Colorectal Cancer session at ESCP Virtually Vilnius 2020 will take place between 17.10-19.10 on Wednesday 23 September 2020.