Birmingham Orthopedic Oncology World Congress/Consensus BOOM- Birmingham Orthopedic Oncology Meeting

On January 28-29, 2024, an outstanding global event for specialists in the treatment of tumors of the musculoskeletal system took place in Birmingham, Great Britain. In such a complex specialty as orthopedic oncology, patient treatment decisions are always challenging and debatable due to scant or conflicting evidence for each type of bone malignancy.
The consensus meeting format was used for the first time in the history of oncology. Two relevant and important issues were chosen as the topic of this meeting: diagnosis/treatment of chondrosarcoma, as one of the most variable and widespread malignant tumors of the skeleton; and diagnosis/treatment of periprosthetic infection in tumor megaendoprosthesis , as the most serious complication of surgical treatment. The initiative to hold this scientific event was taken by prof. Lee Jays from the Royal Orthopedic Hospital, Birmingham, UK. Almost a year ago, a Scientific Committee of 40 leading onco-orthopedic specialists from 120 onco-orthopedic centers from around the world was formed. 100 of the most urgent questions on chondrosarcoma and periprosthetic infection were prepared. Using the method of closed online voting, within 2 months, the Scientific Committee formulated 20 main questions on both consensus topics (10 questions for each topic). Subsequently, 2 separate questions were sent to clinical centers, and within 6 months, 40 leading reference centers based on literary sources and their own experience conducted independent scientific studies. At the final stage, the Scientific Committee of the congress formulated a preliminary consensus on all 40 debatable issues. For the final consensus, a secret vote was held on each question with the final approval of the conclusions.
It should be noted separately that the delegation included more than 400 participants from 53 countries. The evidence level of the given conclusions and recommendations during the meeting was significantly high and reached above 90% for 16 out of 20 questions, and 80% for 2 questions. The incredible activity of the discussions and the high reliability of the results of the conducted work proved the effectiveness of holding this format of congresses specifically on certain issues of onco-orthopedia. Plans were made to continue research and work in this format.
The results of the meeting and the consensus on chondrosarcoma and periprosthetic infection will be published in the leading orthopedic scientific journals in the form of several articles, with the involvement of all members of the Scientific Committee as authors.