As part of the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Urological Association of Asia (UAA), the Asian School of Urology, Young Leaders' Workshop was held in Kyoto, 23-25 April 2010. The workshop focused on future national Asian leaders in the field of Urology and was arranged by the Asian School of Urology (ASU), an educational branch of the UAA, and Dr Osamu Ogawa, the workshop Organizer. Urologists from several Japanese universities contributed to the workshop as advisors, taskforce members, and group members. The workshop was also actively supported by Dr Allen Chiu (Taiwan) and Dr Stephen Lim (Singapore). A younger generation of urologists was invited to attend the workshop and, in all, 29 delegates from 17 countries (Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam), chosen on the basis of recommendations from local councils, attended. The purpose of the workshop was to open channels of communication between future Asian leaders in Urology. The workshop topic was "Asian Clinical Guidelines". Workshop participants were divided into five groups addressing distinct issues associated with the notion of clinical guidelines: Group A, General Problems; Group B, Prostate Cancer; Group C, Stone Disease; Group D, Infectious Diseases; and Group E, Bladder Cancer. The workshop consisted of an introductory session, followed by three main sessions, each of which consisted of a group discussion of specific problems associated with the establishment of Asian Guidelines for Urological Diseases and how best to deal with them, followed by a plenary presentation of the outcomes.
The Asian Prostate Cancer (A-CaP) Study is an Asia-wide initiative that has been developed over the course of 2 years. The A-CaP Study is scheduled to begin in 2016, when each participating country or region will begin registration of newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients and conduct prognosis investigations. From the data gathered, common research themes will be identified, such as comparisons among Asian countries of background factors in newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients. This is the first Asia-wide study of prostate cancer and has developed from single country research efforts in this field, including in Japan and Korea. The inaugural Board Meeting of A-CaP was held on December 11, 2015 at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, attended by representatives of all participating countries and regions, who signed a memorandum of understanding concerning registration for A-CaP. Following the Board Meeting an A-CaP Launch Symposium was held. The symposium was attended by representatives of countries and regions participating in A-CaP, who gave presentations. Presentations and a keynote address were also delivered by representatives of the University of California San Francisco, USA, and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia, who provided insight and experience on similar databases compiled in their respective countries.