[Thirty years of the Oncological Urology Work Group of the Spanish Association of Urology (1978-2008)].
OBJECTIVE
June 2008 marked the thirtieth anniversary of the creation of the Oncological Urology Work Group of the AEU in June 1978. A historical review is thus made of the circumstances leading to its creation, with a special focus on the role played by coordinators and the activities carried out.


METHODS
A review is made of the Group's rules, the agendas of its annual meetings, and AEU publications since 1968. Any news about and references to the Group included are analyzed, and direct information from coordinators, as well as personal experiences, are provided.


RESULTS
The board of Directors of the AEU created this first Work Group in response to the requests by urologists who wanted to work together to achieve a deeper understanding of urological cancer. Twenty-five meetings directed by seven coordinators who have strived for updating oncological pathology and consolidating the group have been held over these 30 years.


CONCLUSIONS
The board of Directors initially suggested the Group's activities, but the personality and scientific quality of the coordinators soon caused them to mark the pace of the work, in which review of all urological tumors, with special emphasis on those of most interest and most controversial at each given point in time, is the primary objective. The most outstanding achievements of the Group have been the publishing of a diagnostic protocol and several books on cancer of the urinary tract, joint work with oncologists, and opening of new research and study lines.
Pérez Albacete
M
M
Servicio de Urología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia, España. mariano.perez2@carm.es
D003226:Congresses as Topic / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000266:history*; D013030:Spain; D014572:Urology / Q000266:history* / Q000458:organization & administration