The main purpose of the conference is to provide as full an overview as possible of current scientific advances in the field of cervical cancer control. Besides guidance for clinical practice, the conference will address the health education needs of the public about HPV and cervical cancer. The main congress objectives will be to
1) update the EUROGIN Roadmap on cervical cancer prevention and
2) assess three years of experience with HPV vaccine use.

In recent years we have experienced unprecedented scientific activity in the field of HPV-related cervical cancer prevention. We are beginning to see evidence that secondary prevention of cervical cancer may evolve in time from morphological review of cytological specimens, either conventional or liquid-based, as the primary screening method, to molecular testing with hybrid capture, PCR or other bio-technologies. Work continues on developing type specific assays for HPV 16/18 that will not only be standardized, highly reproducible and affordable but will achieve approval by national and international regulatory bodies. HPV 16/18-positive women appear to be at higher risk of having or developing clinically progressive cervical cancer precursors requiring more rigorous follow-up, whereas those with other high risk HPV types may benefit from more conservative management approaches.

Decades of intense, dedicated research has led to the development and testing of both a quadrivalent and a bivalent prophylactic HPV vaccine for primary prevention of cervical cancer and its precursors. The former was licensed for U.S. use in June 2006, and is now approved and commercially available in many countries around the world. The latter, available for commercial use in several countries, is expected to be licensed for use in the U.S. by the end of 2008 or early 2009. Both vaccines are reported to be highly effective against the clinically most important high-risk HPV types 16 and 18 in females naïve to these types. These HPV types are responsible for approximately 70% of all cervical cancers worldwide. In addition, the quadrivalent vaccine contains two low-risk HPV types - 6 and 11 - known to cause 90% of genital warts. Multiple randomized controlled trials have convincingly shown that the vaccines prevent up to 100% of cervical cancer precursors, and for the quadrivalent vaccine, genital warts associated with the vaccine-included HPV types.

Over four days, there will be many learning and networking opportunities available for professionals from many disciplines. One only needs to view the program to see the menu of experiences available, superbly organized to cover the state of the science of preventing cervical and other ano-genital cancers. Attendees may find some difficulty choosing sessions because there may be more than one of interest at the same time. We hope that every conference attendee will take full advantage of the opportunities to participate in training courses, free communication sessions, plenary sessions, scientific sessions and satellite symposia throughout the conference, both in English and French.

It goes without saying that such a conference would not have been possible without the vision and determination of EUROGIN's founder, Dr. Joseph Monsonego. EUROGIN was created by Dr. Monsonego more than 20 years ago. Under his leadership, the organization has grown from a handful of European scientists interested in the challenging and multifaceted field of investigating HPV and cervical cancer to an international multidisciplinary organization of clinical and basic scientists, public health professionals, educators, and patient advocates that come together regularly to share knowledge and experiences for the benefit of the world community. The success of EUROGIN conferences is also due to the input of the organizing committee whose members from around the globe worked tirelessly with Dr. Monsonego and the EUROGIN staff to create the most up-to-date and relevant scientific event possible for the betterment and well-being of the women of the world.

In closing, it is with gratitude that we extend our thanks to industry for its unconditional support in making this EUROGIN 2008 conference a reality. We hope all of you will find the meeting useful, whatever your greatest interest--basic or clinical science, public health or patient education We thank you all for your interest and participation in the congress, and hope that you enjoy your stay in Nice and the French Riviera region.

The congress presidents.

Margaret Stanley
Herschel Lawson