Who is SIO? Past, Present and Future of Our Society

We begin by discussing how the Society of Interventional Oncology (SIO) began. It started as the World Conference of Interventional Oncology (WCIO), but was formed into an official society with the goal to become the fourth pillar of oncology care, in addition to surgical oncology, medical oncology and radiation oncology. At the time of its inception, the group asked themselves whether interventional oncology would be bettered by the addition of a professional membership society, and there was a thoughtful and unified decision that it would be.

Next, we discuss what goes into forming a society? When asking people to become members, pay money and give their time, they will expect some return on their investment. It's important to have a formal society, as it greatly advances the field forward. The ability to focus resources and effort completely on what you're passionate about is what having SIO allows. At SIO, we want people to be members of both SIR and SIO, it should be both, not one or the other.

Finally, we talk about some of the current research funded by SIO. SIO fulfills the research aspect of the society by creating data, currently via the Ablation with Confirmation of Colorectal Liver Metastasis (ACCLAIM) Trial. This trial uses software to determine post-treatment margins in percutaneous microwave ablation for colorectal metastasis of the liver. With this trial, they hope to prove that this procedure results in high rates of clear margins, which will make it a minimally invasive alternative to surgical resection. Future research efforts will likely focus on coupling locoregional therapy with targeted immunotherapy. They aim to start treating new cancers, develop further partnerships with industry and pharma, and continue to produce quality data on response rates to promote interventional oncology as the well respected and accepted fourth pillar of oncology.