The Virtual Scientific Sessions from the American Society of Breast Surgeons During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Suddenly, the world entirely changed and everything we knew and were used to also had to change, including in-person national meetings. The pandemic did not allow for a safe 21st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons to take place, scheduled for Las Vegas, Nevada. The one thing that did not change was the member drive for knowledge to advance breast care and decrease the burden of breast cancer for our patients all around the world. Another thing that did not change was the executive physician and staff leadership that rapidly turned our scientific sessions as oral presentations into the new normal of virtual meetings and allowed for presentation of the posters on our website. This historic year for our world and our society renewed our commitment to helping attendees elevate standard practice by improving the efficacy, safety, and quality of breast care for our patients and sharing the best of these advancements in this year’s breast issue of the Annals of Surgical Oncology.

Much gratitude is given to the 33 members of the Publication Committee for careful review of 372 research abstracts for selection of the top studies for oral scientific, ‘quick-shot’, and poster presentations, and final review and selection of the highest impact publications for this issue of Annals of Surgical Oncology. Just some of the highlighted research studies published in this issue of Annals of Surgical Oncology include pivotal and essential work regarding enhanced patient recovery and decreasing the use of opioid prescriptions for pain management after breast cancer surgery,1–4 understanding and further integration of neoadjuvant systemic (including hormonal) therapies to facilitate improved patient outcomes,5–9 and further elucidation and updates on breast reconstruction and standardizing oncoplastic surgery.10–14

The annual Outstanding Scientific Presentation Award for the best abstract presented by a resident, medical trainee, or fellow went to Dr. Daniel Lustig for his important work on development of a risk calculator to predict a low risk for malignancy upgrade when atypical ductal hyperplasia is diagnosed by image-guided biopsy, in order to identify patients most likely to benefit from surgical excisons.15 The George Peter’s Award for the best presentation by a fellow went to Dr. Britany Murphy for her work on emerging multi-gene panel testing and performance of contralateral prophylactic masectomy.16 These and other ASBrS articles published in this issue16–31 provide current research results germane to today’s delivery of high-quality breast cancer care.

The pandemic is currently still active and the future ramifications of delayed and canceled screening, surgeries, and marked increases in neoadjuvant systemic therapy use for breast cancer will be evaluated in research studies for years to come. The impact on these dramatic changes in breast and other malignancies with respect to recurrence, survival, and emotional well-being will also be the subject of future research presentations at this society and others. In the final analysis, it is anticipated that there will be lessons learned and these practices will be incorporated into continuing enhanced standards in breast cancer care and global healthcare in general.