PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) and its members are dedicated to advancing and promoting the science and treatment of cancer worldwide. The SSO provides leadership to US and international health professionals on the importance of surgery in multidisciplinary cancer care, with a commitment to foster the research careers of young investigators and clinicians to propel discovery and ultimately improve patient outcomes. SSO and its annual educational symposium focus on current scientific advances in basic and translational science, controversies, clinical trials, and novel techniques in the following specific disease and tumor types: breast cancer, melanoma, sarcoma, pancreas and hepatobiliary malignancies, esophageal cancer, thyroid and adrenal cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, neuroendocrine tumors, and peritoneal surface malignancies. The meeting convenes more than 1900 surgical oncologists, general surgeons, and oncology health professionals from 45 countries to engage in peer-to-peer and mentor-to-trainee dialogue, debate, and didactic learning through a variety of mediums for an educational offering that has no clear parallel. The symposium offers more than 500 scientific abstracts covering novel science and clinical trials, video sessions and over 400 poster presentations. The Scientific Program Committee (SPC) collaborates with SSO’s eight Disease Site Work Groups, panels of experts who ensure faculty selection and content development is by those with nationally recognized expertise in the tumor area, peer-reviewed publications in the educational topic area, and skill and experience in speaking and teaching. Meeting attendance is diverse. Two-thirds of physician attendees are US-based from academic and community-practice settings and represent all stages of a surgical oncology career. The SSO Annual Cancer Symposium provides networking opportunities to help augment careers and to cultivate clinical collaborations. As systemic therapies for cancer treatment become more effective and are increasingly applied in the neoadjuvant setting, surgical oncologists are playing a more important role in the multidisciplinary management of the cancer patient.1 Surgical oncologists are also becoming more involved in the design and recruitment of clinical trials, and depend on the SSO conference to provide education in all of these areas: pre-clinical, translational and clinical research; clinical trial design and enrollment; surgical and systemic treatments; and other elements to treat the cancer patient in a multi-disciplinary setting. 1 Juan A. Santamaria-BarriaStacey SternAdam KhaderMary Garland-KledzikAnthony J. ScholerTrevan Fischer. Anton Bilchik. Ann Surg Oncol (2019) 26: 2327. https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-019-07380-1 Changing Trends in Industry Funding for Surgical Oncologists.