STUART LICHTMAN, MD, FACP, FASCO
The 25th Annual Conference of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) convened in Ghent, Belgium, from November 20 to 22, 2025, marking a quarter-century of international collaboration dedicated to improving cancer care for older adults. Held under the theme “Bridging Research and Clinical Practice in Geriatric Oncology,” the meeting brought together clinicians, researchers, allied health professionals, and advocates from around the world to reflect on progress, share emerging science, and define priorities for the future of the field.
Founded in 2000, SIOG has remained dedicated to its mission: “The goal of SIOG is to strengthen the capacity of health professionals in the field of geriatric oncology in order to optimize treatment of older adults with cancer.” This mission has guided the society’s work across education, research, and clinical practice, and it served as a unifying theme throughout the anniversary meeting.
A Quarter-Century of Progress
From its origins as a small international collaboration, SIOG has grown into a global network representing more than 80 countries and encompassing oncologists, geriatricians, surgeons, radiation oncologists, nurses, and allied health professionals. Over the past 25 years, the society has played a central role in advancing comprehensive geriatric assessment, promoting the inclusion of older adults in cancer clinical trials, and developing consensus-based guidance that informs age-attuned oncology care worldwide. It has partnered with the World Health Organization and other groups.
SIOG Leadership and Governance
The society’s leadership, elected for the 2024 to 2026 term, reflects SIOG’s global and multidisciplinary mission. The Board of Directors includes clinicians and researchers from across North America, Europe, Asia, and beyond.The Executive Committee is:
- Grant Williams (USA) – President
- Kwok-Leung Cheung (United Kingdom) – President-Elect
- Barbara Ewals (Thailand) – CEO (Ex-Officio)
- Andrew Chapman (USA) – Treasurer
- Nicolò Matteo Luca Battisti (UK) – Past-President
Highlights of the 2025 Annual Conference
The 2025 meeting, held at the International Convention Center Ghent, was the largest in SIOG’s history. The scientific program included 24 sessions, 3 workshops, 114 invited talks, and 28 oral abstract presentations, along with nearly 300 poster presentations. More than 535 participants from 42 countries attended.
Sessions addressed key domains of geriatric oncology, including treatment decision–making, supportive care, survivorship, and clinical trial methodology, with an emphasis on translating evidence into practical, implementable strategies for everyday oncology practice.
Plenary Sessions
The plenary sessions provided a comprehensive overview of the field’s evolution, current challenges, and future directions.
PL-01: Celebration Session—25th Anniversary of SIOG
This commemorative plenary marked SIOG’s 25-year history and impact. Introduced by Hans Wildiers, MD, PhD (Leuven, Belgium), the session featured reflections from Grant Williams, MD, MPH, FASCO (Hoover, USA), Martine Extermann, MD, PhD (Tampa, USA), and Stuart Lichtman, MD (Melville, USA). Speakers reviewed key milestones in the development of geriatric oncology, the growth of SIOG as a global society, and the challenges that lie ahead as the oncology workforce adapts to rapidly aging populations worldwide.
PL-02: Geriatric Oncology—From Research to Clinical Practice
Chaired by Lore Decoster, MD (Brussels, Belgium), Cindy Kenis, PhD, MScN, RN (Leuven, Belgium), and Hans Wildiers, MD, PhD, this plenary exemplified the conference theme by showcasing real-world models of geriatric oncology care from diverse health-care systems.
Presentations highlighted multidisciplinary and patient-centered approaches to integrating geriatric principles into oncology practice, including:
- A comprehensive, multidisciplinary geriatric oncology clinic model at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto (Susie Monginot, Canada)
- An integrated oncologic decision–making framework emphasizing shared, patient-centered care (Hanneke van der Wal–Huisman, the Netherlands)
- A comprehensive geriatric cancer care model implemented within a tertiary geriatric oncology hospital in South India (Rejiv Rajendranath, India)
- The Royal Marsden Senior Adult Oncology Programme, illustrating structured care pathways in a major academic cancer center (Nicolò Matteo Luca Battisti, United Kingdom)
- Strategies for scaling geriatric oncology services through embedded assessments and multidisciplinary pathways (Ramy Sedhom, USA)
The session concluded with a panel discussion led by Colm Mac Eochagain, MD, MSc, MB BAO BCh (Dublin, Ireland), addressing how cancer centers worldwide organize care for older adults and adapt geriatric oncology principles to local resources and health-system constraints.
PL-03: Plenary Abstracts
Chaired by Lore Decoster, MD, and Grant Williams, MD, MPH, FASCO, this plenary featured high-impact oral abstracts reflecting innovation across the field. Topics included the effects of immune-related adverse events on quality of life and physical functioning in older adults receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors, early findings from the E-PROOF study combining nutritional and resistance training interventions, evaluation of an AI-driven conversational agent for geriatric assessment, and the development of the Cancer and Aging Research Group (CARG) Geriatric Oncology Therapy Optimization research infrastructure. Collectively, these presentations highlighted advances in supportive care, digital health, and patient-centered clinical trial design.
PL-04: Defining and Preventing Overtreatment and Undertreatment in Older Adults With Cancer
This forward-looking plenary addressed one of the central challenges in geriatric oncology: achieving treatment intensity that aligns with physiologic reserve, patient goals, and anticipated benefit while avoiding both therapeutic excess and undertreatment. Speakers emphasized individualized decision-making grounded in geriatric assessment and shared discussions with patients and caregivers.
SIOG 2025 Award Winners – Highlights
SIOG Paul Calabresi Award
Florence Canouï-Poitrine, MD, PhD (France), Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology, Université Paris–Est Créteil
Dr. Canouï-Poitrine was honored with the SIOG 2025 Paul Calabresi Award for her outstanding contributions to geriatric oncology research and clinical epidemiology. Her work focuses on improving the representation of older adults in cancer clinical trials, refining prognostic models that integrate geriatric and oncologic factors, and developing pragmatic oncogeriatric trial designs. She has led and co-led major multicenter prospective studies and randomized trials in older cancer populations and authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications. She also plays an active role in SIOG educational initiatives, including the Masterclass and Methods Working Group.
SIOG Nursing and Allied Health Investigator Award
Marielle Jensen-Battaglia, PT, DPT, PhD (USA), Postdoctoral Associate, University of Rochester
Dr. Jensen-Battaglia was recognized for her interdisciplinary research examining patient and oncologist expectations of physical function among older adults with acute myeloid leukemia. Trained as both a physical therapist and epidemiologist, her work bridges qualitative and quantitative methods to address functional outcomes, aging, and cancer care delivery.
SIOG Young Investigator Award
Pallawi Torka, MD (USA), Assistant Professor of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Dr. Torka received the Young Investigator Award for her research on optimizing management strategies for older adults with mantle cell lymphoma in a rapidly evolving therapeutic landscape. Her work emphasizes balancing efficacy and toxicity, integrating geriatric principles into lymphoma care, and improving outcomes for vulnerable older patients.
SIOG Young Investigator Award – Finalists
Mostafa R. Mohamed, MBBCh, PhD, MSc (USA) – Recognized for research on pretreatment cognitive impairment and treatment tolerability in older patients with advanced cancer receiving systemic therapy.
Fnu (Nikita) Nikita, MD, MPH (USA) – Honored for work examining age-specific risks of immune-related adverse events associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors in lung cancer.
Additional Nursing & Allied Health Award Finalists
Helén Johanna Luedtke (Sweden) – Recognized for her work establishing an interprofessional geriatric consultation model within medical oncology and hematology, emphasizing structured assessment and quality-driven care.
Carolina Gómez-Moreno, MD has been honored with the SIOG National Representative Award for Mexico.
Carolina Gómez-Moreno, a Geriatrician at the Emergency Department of the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition “Salvador Zubirán” in Mexico, was honored with the SIOG National Representative Award for her extensive contributions to geriatric oncology. Her work within SIOG focuses on bridging the gap between geriatrics and oncology, serving as the National Representative for Mexico and Chair of the Geriatricians Ad Hoc Committee since 2024 to integrate the geriatrician’s perspective into society. She is also active in research and publishing, mentorship through Young SIOG, and she successfully advocated for the inclusion of Geriatric Oncology in the International Congress of Geriatrics in Mexico in August 2025.
SIOG continues into 2026 with several key events designed to expand education and collaboration across the field.
SIOG 2026 Annual Conference – Valencia, Spain
The SIOG 2026 Annual Conference is scheduled for November 5–7, 2026, in Valencia, Spain, at the Meliá Valencia. This flagship meeting will build on the success of Ghent with sessions spanning clinical research, geriatric assessment, multidisciplinary care strategies, and implementation science. Detailed program information will be released as planning progresses.
SIOG Advanced Course – Treviso, Italy
In the summer of 2026, SIOG will again host its Advanced Course in Geriatric Oncology in Treviso, Italy (June 17–19, 2026). This is a CME-accredited training course designed to deepen clinical skills in geriatric assessment, care pathways, and therapeutic decision–making for older patients with cancer. The course features international faculty and case-based learning to strengthen collaborative practice between oncologists and geriatricians.
This Advanced Course also includes an optional Alumni Breakfast and Poster Walk at the Valencia conference later in the year, fostering continuity and community among participants.
SIOG Research Masterclass
Additionally, in April 2026, SIOG will offer a Research Masterclass (April 8–10, 2026) in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. This intensive program equips early-career investigators and interdisciplinary professionals with the tools to design clinical studies that address barriers to including older adults in oncology research — a critical priority for evidence-based care.
As SIOG embarks on its second quarter-century, the society remains focused on closing gaps between evidence and practice, expanding research that is inclusive of older adults, and promoting education that enables clinicians to deliver aging-specific cancer care globally. The success of the 2025 meeting and the promise of 2026’s initiatives underscore the field’s vibrancy and the shared commitment of its diverse membership. For more on SIOG’s mission, leadership, and events, visit siog.org.
