I want to promote, in the following paragraphs, the main educational conferences from Europe and from all around the world in the oncology field. I will start with the Congress of European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC), which will be held in Madrid, in May 2017. The message of the president of this association is eloquent: “The growing recognition of the importance of palliative care is reflected in the title chosen for the upcoming 15th World Congress of the European Association for Palliative Care - ‘Progressing Palliative Care’. On behalf of the EAPC and the organizing committees, we would like to invite participants from all over the world to meet in the beautiful city of Madrid in 2017. Moreover, we are very delighted to announce that Her Royal Highness Queen Letizia of Spain will be the President of Honor for the EAPC Conference 2017”.
The next important event is The American Society for Clinical Oncology annual meeting. In 2016, this international conference, with a large participation from different countries, revealed many new data from numerous clinical trials, which will change the medical practice. Attendees claimed CME credits, downloaded a Certificate of Attendance, and provided feedback during the meeting.  
Another important conference in which many oncologists from Romania participated in 2016 was the ESMO annual Congress. Across disciplines and across cultures, The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) bridges the gap between researchers, clinicians and patients, and unites all stakeholders focused on finding the most effective cancer treatment solutions available today.
Because lung cancer remains the main cause of mortality from cancer, I want to mention the Congress of International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), which was held in Vienna, in December 2016. Medical doctors, scientists, nurses, health professionals, government officials, partners from the industry, health advocacy groups and patients came together and obtained exchange information on both state-of-the-art and advances in the management of lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies, considering both global and regional aspects. 
Last but not least, I must mention the National Conference of Romanian National Society for Medical Oncology (SNOMR) - our association for medical oncology -, which reached new performance regarding the participation of international speakers and of Romanian medical oncologists. This conference was endorsed in 2016 by SIOG (International Society for Geriatric Oncology). Another important thing that I want to report is that, as a consequence of my dialog with ESMO, it was decided that our society (SNOMR) has the right to propose an ESMO National representative for 2017-2018.
In the end of this editorial, I must mention the success of our journal, Oncolog-Hematolog.ro, and of Versa Media, to be accepted in 2016 in an international database. The journal is under the auspices of SNOMR and The Institute of Oncology Bucharest.

Alexandru C. GRIGORESCU, MD, PhD
Editor-in-chiefeditorial