WEO participation in the Digestive Cancer and Digestive Disease Forum, Zunyi 2023, China

WEO President, Professor Hisao Tajiri was honored with an invitation to deliver a special lecture during the Digestive Cancer and Digestive Disease Forum Zunyi 2023, held in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, China, on 21–23 July 2023. More than 250 experts from China and Japan attended this hybrid meeting which showcased 23 live endoscopic demonstrations. The latest advances were shared through 230 lectures, with topics including digestive cancer (including rare tumors andneuroendocrine tumors), diseases of the hepatobiliary/pancreatic and autoimmune digestive systems, severe digestive, inflammatory bowel, and functional gastrointestinal diseases, and digestive endoscopy.

For the past 6 years, the Forum on early digestive cancer has been held annually by the Affiliated Hospital of the Zunyi Medical University of China and the Niigata Hospital of Japan. Since 2018 a strong collaboration has been built up between the gastroenterology departments of the two Hospitals. It has included the establishment of international cooperation in basic research, specialist training in early cancer of the gastrointestinal tract, and an ERCP training course.

The Forum was organized by the Department of Gastroenterology, Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, and by the Digestive Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Quality Control Center of Guizhou Province, China. Lecturers presented a wide range of lectures, including:

• Hisao Tajiri, WEO President: “Looking to the future of gastrointestinal endoscopy”

• DaiMing Fan, Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering: “The practice of integrated medicine in cancer prevention and treatment”

• Zhaoshen Li, Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering: “Focus on key points, research hot spots, solve difficulties, and occupy the commanding heights: Eight years of early screening, early diagnosis and early treatment of gastrointestinal cancer in China”

• Min Hu Chen, President of the Chinese Society of Gastroenterology: "Hot topics in clinical research of inflammatory bowel disease”

• Chengwei Tang, President-Elect of the Chinese Society of Gastroenterology: “Thrombocytopenia – treatment strategy for gastroenterologists”

• Zhendong Jin, President-Elect of the Chinese Society of Digestive Endoscopy: “EUS diagnosis progress in digestive line tumors.”

• Biguang Tuo, Chairman and Professor of the Gastroenterology Department of the Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University: “Focus on indigestion in the elderly”

• Shuji Terai, Chairman and Professor of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University: “Diagnosis and treatment of liver cirrhosis using exosomes”

• Xuemei Liu, Chairman and Professor of the Gastroenterology Department of Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University: “Comprehensive diagnosis and treatment of gastric neoplastic lesions in the background of autoimmune atrophic gastritis”

• Kazuyoshi Yagi, Professor of Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Uonuma Institute of Community Medicine, Niigata University Medical and Dental Hospital: “White zone in magnifying endoscopy: the story of my 24 years of gastric magnifying endoscopy”

• Yutaka Saito，Chairman and Professor of the Endoscopy Department of the National Cancer Center, Japan: “Toward globalization of colorectal ESD: WEO international consensus on colorectal ESD”

• Kenichi Mizuno, Professor of the Division of Pathology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University: "Magnifying endoscopic diagnosis of ulcerative colitis-associated neoplasia”.

At the Forum, Professor Tajiri said, ‘the Digestive Cancer and Digestive Disease Forum of Zunyi is recognized as one of the most important GI medicine events in China.

I am very happy to represent WEO in delivering the special lecture “Looking to the future of gastrointestinal endoscopy. I believe this kind of platform is very useful in facilitating extensive exchange of knowledge and experience, allowing for greater synergy between key partners. I would also like to congratulate the organizers, Prof. Biguang Tuo and Prof. Xuemei Liu, on the success of the congress. I have been attending this forum every year, and each year the conference has grown in size and the content has become more sophisticated and substantial. I am impressed by the quality of the scientific content.”