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The ESMO Virtual Plenaries are freely available to all healthcare professionals working in Oncology. 

If you are an ESMO Member or already have a free ESMO Account, you will be able to log in and watch the ESMO Virtual Plenaries using your existing ESMO Account.

Don’t have an ESMO Account?

Please set up a free ESMO Account now to access the ESMO Virtual Plenaries.

The ESMO Virtual Plenary is an online plenary session in which a scientific abstract, after prior peer-review by ESMO experts, is presented by an independent investigator live to the scientific community, moderated by a Chair and critically analysed by a discussant.

ESMO Virtual Plenaries take place 10 times a year, in the middle of every month, and a maximum two consecutive sessions may be scheduled together.

ESMO launched the Virtual Plenaries so as to enable investigators to present their original trial data in a timely manner to a broad online scientific community according to a regular timetable distributed throughout the year. Such a strategy allows the bypassing of restrictions imposed by the COVID19 pandemic, limited resources, travel bans, audience fatigue of webinars and an overflow of information during annual, long virtual congresses.

The ESMO Virtual Plenaries empower the scientific community to accelerate the research to practice pathway, to break down barriers in dissemination of scientific data and to benefit investigators and patients alike, whilst adhering to the principles of independent peer-review, critical analysis and discussion of the original data presented. Moreover, the scientific breakthroughs are primely positioned for presentation to a wide online audience while they are not “diluted” by the audience exposure to an overflow of information. Access to ESMO Virtual Plenaries is free for ESMO members and non-members behind a free ESMO account log-in.

The ESMO Virtual Plenaries take place in the middle of every month, except for the months of the ESMO Congress and the ESMO Asia Congress. Each ESMO Virtual Plenary comprises one abstract, includes an introduction to the scientific topic and speakers by the Chair, presentation of the original trial data by the Investigator, critical analysis by the Discussant, and concludes with a live Discussion/ Questions and Answers section open to questions submitted by the online audience via a “chat” feature. In total, up to 20 abstract slots are available in the ESMO Virtual Plenaries, distributed throughout the year. 

Abstracts eligible for submission in the ESMO Virtual Plenaries are phase III and, phase II trial data as well as Real World data which show remarkable therapeutic benefits or provide significant scientific insights. Although there is strong preference for original data not presented before, abstracts previously presented or published are eligible for submission, provided they contain data with significant/major updates (subgroup analyses, molecular insights, mature outcome data, etc.)

Abstracts must be submitted online via the ESMO website, according to the published schedule, i.e. submission in month x for presentation during month x+1

Submitted abstracts are peer reviewed by the Chairs of the Scientific Committee and the relevant Track Chairs of the upcoming main ESMO Congress, the ESMO President and President-Elect and the ESMO Chief Medical Officer (Virtual Plenaries Review Board) on a monthly basis. Abstracts are prioritized for presentation in the ESMO Virtual Plenaries by their scientific merit, following procedures already in place for abstract submission to the ESMO Congress. The ESMO Virtual Plenaries abstract regulations can be consulted here. An abstract not selected for presentation in an ESMO Virtual Plenary may be carried over for evaluation for presentation in a subsequent ESMO Virtual Plenary.

Abstracts are published in Annals of Oncology. Upon acceptance they will be issued a Digital Object Identifier and published online concomitant to Virtual Plenaries presentation in the “Articles in Press” section and via the presentation platform. Thereafter, full publication will be in the printed journal and subsequently referenced in the Abstract book of the following ESMO Congress (or other ESMO meeting should it be encored prior). 

All cancer healthcare professionals, cancer researchers and patient advocates may follow the ESMO Virtual Plenaries with unlimited access behind a free ESMO account via the ESMO Virtual Plenaries page. After the live presentation, the ESMO Virtual Plenaries will be available on demand on OncologyPRO, ESMO’s repository of educational and scientific resources.

Abstracts presented in an ESMO Virtual Plenary are eligible for submission to a subsequent abstract-related ESMO meeting or to the ESMO Congress only once.

An ESMO Virtual Plenaries abstract that is later submitted to an ESMO meeting or Congress with significant/major data updates (Updated Encore) will be considered a new abstract submission to the meeting/congress, the congress abstract regulations being applied as usual for rejection or acceptance by scientific merit (Proffered Paper, Mini Oral, Poster).

An ESMO Virtual Plenaries abstract that is submitted with no or only minor updates (Pure Encore) will be eligible only for the ESMO Congress Virtual Plenary Debate sessions, in which the selected abstracts are critically debated and discussed by presenting investigators and independent experts. The selection of the pure encore abstracts for the Congress Virtual Plenary Debate sessions will be done by the Virtual Plenaries Review Board.

An abstract presented in an ESMO Virtual Plenary which is later submitted to an ESMO meeting or Congress with significant/major data updates (subgroup analyses, molecular insights, mature outcomes, etc.) is an Updated Encore abstract and will be considered a new abstract submission to the meeting/congress. The meeting or congress abstract regulations are applied as usual for rejection or acceptance by scientific merit (Proffered Paper, Mini Oral, Poster). The rationale of the strategy lies in the interest of the updated data that merit their presentation in the Congress.

An abstract presented in an ESMO Virtual Plenary which is later submitted to the ESMO Congress with no or only minor updates is a Pure Encore abstract. Such an abstract can only be submitted to the ESMO Congress and will be eligible only for the Congress Virtual Plenary Debate sessions. In these sessions, the emphasis is on the in-depth review, debate and discussion of the selected abstract by investigators and independent experts, instead of a repeat presentation. The selection of the pure encore abstracts for the Congress Virtual Plenary Debate sessions will be done by the Virtual Plenaries Review Board.

ESMO Virtual Plenaries abstracts are under full embargo until simultaneous release with the start of the Virtual Plenaries during which the data are presented. Abstracts may be viewed on the Annals of Oncology website and the ESMO Virtual Plenaries presentation platform, and subsequently on OncologyPro.

Full detail and instructions are in the abstract regulations here.

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