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Dear ISUP Members:<br>
<p>Following the success of the companion meeting held in San Antonio, TX, in March, the International Society of Urological Pathology has embarked on a number of major projects.</p>
<p>The first of these was the establishment of an even closer working relationship with other international uropathology groups, in particular with the Uropathology Working Group of the European Society of Pathology (ESP). This culminated in a series of successful joint sessions held in Helsinki, Finland, in the Late August-Early September 2011 (<a href="http://www.isuporg.org">www.isuporg.org</a>). The sessions were attended by several hundred uropathologists from all over the world and pleasingly the genitourinary program constituted the major part of the Congress.  Those of us who had attended previous ESP congresses felt that the Helsinki experience was the most successful so far. During the congress a ceremony was held to present the prestigious Koss medal of the ISUP to Professor Gregor Mikuz (Innsbruck, Austria) in recognition of his professional excellence and dedication to the field of uropathology.</p>
<p>The second project has been the organization of a Consensus Conference on Renal Cell Carcinoma which will be held in Vancouver, Canada, on March 17, 2012, at the time of the USCAP meeting. An organizing committee was established in late Spring 2011 with the task of forming working groups, organizing a survey among all ISUP members, and planning the final conference in Vancouver. The committee included Brett Delahunt (Committee Chairman), John Srigley (Immediate Past President of the ISUP), Lars Egevad (Secretary of the ISUP) and myself. Four working groups were formed in the early Summer 2011 to deal with the specific topics of classification, grading, staging and molecular pathology. More than two hundred ISUP members participated in a survey which closed in November. The results of the survey are now in the hands of the working groups who are preparing the final documents to be discussed in Vancouver, with the final results to be published in the American Journal of Surgical Pathology. We foresee a large attendance in Vancouver, which on initial estimates will be far higher than that seen at previous consensus conferences organized by the Society. It is anticipated that the conclusions of the conference will have a major impact on the way renal cell carcinoma is dealt with by pathologists and clinicians. As president of the ISUP, I wish to thank the other members of the organizing committee for all the work done up to now. In particular I would like to acknowledge the activity of Lars Egevad in facilitating regular contact with all of our members.</p>
<p>The third project that is planned is the celebration in Vancouver of the 20th anniversary of the ISUP and this will include three major events. The first of these is the Renal Cell Carcinoma Consensus Conference, as detailed above. The second event will be a companion meeting co-organized by Cristina Magi-Galluzzi and Kiril Trpkov. This will be dedicated to recent advances in the field of uropathology with the proceedings published in the journal Pathology. The third is the Grawitz dinner whose organization is already in hand. This will include a presentation by Brett Delahunt on the first 20 years of the ISUP and will include a pleasant surprise for all attending members.</p>
<p>Please visit our renewed website for more information and be assured that I would like to see all of you in Vancouver and have the chance to meet you personally.</p>
<p>Season's Greetings to all of you from your President and from the executive committee.</p>

<p>Rodolfo Montironi, MD, FRCPath IFCAP<br />
President, International Society of Urological Pathology </p>
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Dear ISUP Members:<br>
<p>I would like to update you on the two major activities that the International Society of Urological Pathology will be undertaking following the recent meeting held in San Antonio, TX, on February 26, 2011.</p>
<p>A consensus conference, focusing on Renal Cell Carcinoma, will be held in Vancouver, Canada, on March 17, 2012. Five work groups have been identified, with participants selected from those ISUP Members who have, in recent times, greatly contributed to this area of GU pathology (See below) These five groups will be coordinated by Brett Delahunt (chief coordinator), John Srigley, Lars Egevad and myself. At the moment, the groups are working on the identification of a series of issues related to the classification, grading, staging and molecular features of these tumors. Such issues will form the basis for wider discussion with ISUP members prior to, as well as during, the consensus conference. More information will be forthcoming regarding the arrangements for this conference later in the year. The overall aim of the project is to establish enduring standards relating to all forms of renal epithelial neoplasia in a manner similar to the recent successful conferences on bladder neoplasia, Gleason grading of prostate cancer and the handling and reporting of radical prostatectomy specimens.</p>
<p>The other activity I would like to advise you of is the upcoming uropathology sessions that will be take place as part of the European Congress of Pathology in Helsinki, Finland, August 29-31, 2011. The events represent the fruits of an excellent collaboration that has been established between the International Society of Urological Pathology, and the Uropathology Working Group of the European Society of Pathology (President: Prof. Gregor Mikuz, Innsbruck, Austria). I really hope you are able to attend these sessions and look forward to meeting you there. The list of sessions, topics, contributors and meeting schedules are listed below.</p>
<p>Since the time of the San Antonio meeting in February, we have been following through on a variety of projects designed to promote communication between members, including an update of the official ISUP website. Please visit this at  <a href="http://www.isuporg.org">www.isuporg.org</a>. We would be grateful for your feedback and would welcome suggestions for improvement.  I would also like to remind you that the website is regularly up-dated with a variety of interesting uropathology cases that are posted by our Past President,  Jonathan I. Epstein.</p>
<p>For those of you who are planning a summer break, let me wish you an enjoyable vacation. For those of you in the south who are entering the winter season – just remember summer (and the consensus conference) is just around the corner.</p>
<p>My best wishes to you all!</p>
<p>Rodolfo Montironi, MD, FRCPath IFCAP<br />
President, International Society of Urological Pathology </p>
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