Abstract
A note from Lars Dyrskjøt and Peter Black, members of the IBCN and Bladder Cancer Editorial Board Members
For more than 25 years, the International Bladder Cancer Network (IBCN) has provided a unique forum for global collaboration among clinicians, researchers, and thought leaders in bladder cancer. From its beginnings as an informal workshop in Barcelona in 1997 to its formal incorporation in 2005, IBCN has remained dedicated to its mission: improving the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of bladder cancer through biological markers and multidisciplinary collaboration.
This editorial serves to formally mark a new step in our journey: the partnership between IBCN and Bladder Cancer, the official journal of our network. This affiliation provides a dedicated platform for disseminating the outcomes of our meetings, initiatives, and collaborative projects, ensuring that the work of IBCN is shared widely across the global community.
A legacy of collaboration
Over the years, IBCN has initiated and coordinated landmark efforts in biomarker validation, consensus guidelines for NMIBC and MIBC, and most recently, consensus classification of muscle-invasive bladder cancer with far-reaching translational impact. 1 Our network has also catalyzed multicenter projects ranging from tissue microarrays 2 to urine marker surveillance trials. 3 These collective achievements have always reflected the spirit of IBCN: collegiality, interdisciplinarity, and early sharing of new ideas.
A central element of IBCN has always been our annual meetings, which provide a unique environment for collegial exchange and early presentation of new concepts. These gatherings consistently bring together basic scientists and clinicians from across the world, fostering cross-disciplinary collaborations and shaping initiatives that evolve into multicenter studies and consensus projects. Over the years, the meetings have grown steadily, with last year's event in Bern drawing more than 200 participants. With Bladder Cancer as our official journal, reports and updates from these meetings will now have a natural home, extending their impact far beyond the meeting room.
Looking ahead
The affiliation with Bladder Cancer will ensure continuity and visibility for IBCN's scientific output—from meeting abstracts and consensus statements to network-wide initiatives. Importantly, this partnership will also provide a platform for constructive dialogue on complex issues such as biomarker standardization, ethical and legal aspects of international data sharing, and clinical translation of molecular subtypes. Ultimately, these efforts will accelerate the translation of discoveries into improved diagnostics and treatments for patients.
A collective endeavor
This editorial marks the beginning of a strengthened relationship between IBCN and Bladder Cancer. We thank the Journal's editorial team for their support and commitment to our shared mission. We look forward to continued exchange, consensus-building, and impactful publications that will ultimately benefit patients worldwide. We welcome this partnership as a new chapter in IBCN's journey and the continued success of our community in advancing bladder cancer research and care.
A note from Seth Lerner and Dan Theodorescu, Editors-in-Chief of Bladder Cancer
Dan and I and the Sage team are thrilled to start this journey of collaboration between IBCN and the Bladder Cancer Journal. The journal is starting its second decade of continuous publication and view this strategic partnership as a key to our growth and imprimatur as the preferred destination for impactful clinical, translational and basic research in bladder and upper tract urothelial cancers. The annual IBCN meeting is a premier gathering of international experts in our field and we look forward to sharing the important research presented at this prestigious meeting with our readers.
