First World Bladder Cancer Patient Forum 2021 a success

The first World Bladder Cancer Patient Forum took place virtually on September 22, bringing together over 150 registered attendees from 35 countries. The 2021 theme of “Changing bladder cancer patient care together” shone a light on the role bladder cancer patient voice from research to care. The theme recognises the need for international multi-stakeholder collaboration to achieve common goal of improving the lives of people affected by bladder cancer.

The World Bladder Cancer Patient Forum recording is available for replay on our WBCPC YouTube Channel.

The first session “Patient centricity: from research to care” featured a scene-setting presentation on Patient involvement in bladder cancer research from Dr Ashish Kamat, MD Anderson Cancer Center. It was then followed by a multidisciplinary moderated panel discussion on the unique challenges and opportunities for integrating patient voice from research design to care delivery and policy change. Attendees heard different perspectives from patients, patient advocates, industry and regulatory agency perspectives, as well as clinician views from practice.

Giving the floor to patient organisations during the second session “Patient advocacy: sharing knowledge, driving change,”  World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition President Dr Lydia Makaroff invited three member bladder cancer patient organisations from the coalition to share their recent projects making a positive impact in their countries.

• Laura Magenta, Associazione PaLiNUro, Italy
• Tony Cornacchia, Bladder Cancer Canada
• Melanie Costin, Fight Bladder Cancer, United Kingdom

The World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition presented the upcoming Global Bladder Cancer Patient Experience survey launching on October 1^st. Sharing the project at the event, World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition Executive Director Alex Filicevas said that “study aims at giving voice to people living with bladder cancer to share their care experiences from their own perspective.”

The World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition announced that the 2022 World Bladder Cancer Patient Forum will take place in Paris, France on September 8^th, 2022 as a hybrid event.