There are always a lot of “firsts” to be experienced at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. First looks at new breast cancer therapies. First results of late-breaking clinical trials. But attendees of this year’s SABCS will experience a “first” of a different sort.

“Last year, we successfully presented the first ever all-virtual SABCS to a global audience, and this year we will be presenting the first ever hybrid SABCS — in person in San Antonio and online around the world,” said Virginia Kaklamani, MD, who serves as SABCS Co-Director alongside Carlos Arteaga, MD.

“As proud as we are of what we accomplished in response to the pandemic last year, we are so excited and looking forward to seeing people in person, in good health, and in San Antonio,” Dr. Kaklamani said. “While we’ve all adapted to attending online conferences and virtually connecting with friends and colleagues, there is nothing that can compare to being in person where—in one place, at one time—we can learn, share ideas, and experience together all that SABCS has to offer.”

Whether you’ll be attending virtually or in person, Dr. Kaklamani said all SABCS attendees will have access to all the great science they’ve come to expect from the world’s largest and longest running symposium designed specifically for breast cancer clinicians and researchers.

“No matter how you attend, you do not want to miss the hot topics and hot-off-the-press trial results that will be presented this year, including the latest findings on oral selective estrogen receptor downregulators (SERDs) for the treatment of ER-positive breast cancer, important updates on immunotherapy, and emerging data on new anti-HER2 therapies,” Dr. Kaklamani said.

“We will also hear a lot about progress in precision medicine, including ways to potentially tailor our treatments based on genomic information of the tumor. And, of course, we will once again have a COVID session exploring how the pandemic has impacted our patients and ourselves over the past year.”

As always, she said, SABCS 2021 is designed to not only give attendees what they want to learn, but also a variety of options for how they want to learn, with four days of cutting-edge science presented in plenary and award lectures, mini-symposia, poster presentations, debates, educational sessions, workshops, forums, and panel and case discussions.

“And you’ll definitely want to stick around till the end of the meeting for the always popular ‘Year in Review’ session for summaries of what the literature has shown and what advances we’ve made over the last year, and the ‘View from the Trenches’ session for a review of some of the most important data and study findings presented during SABCS 2021 along with clinical pearls that you can take home and put into practice,” Dr. Arteaga noted.

For those attending in person, Dr. Arteaga said that the SABCS Program Planning Committee is working closely with the San Antonio Convention Center to make sure all the appropriate safety measures and precautions are in place.

“Safety is our number one priority, and we continue to monitor daily developments in the pandemic and will continue to make adjustments as necessary in order to adhere to the CDC’s COVID safety guidelines as well as all restrictions and precautions required by the city,” Dr. Arteaga said. “If you can make it to San Antonio, we will see you there; if not, register today and join us virtually because you don’t want to miss SABCS 2021. From start to finish, we have a rich and robust program with something for everyone.”