Dear Friends,
colon cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer globally with an incidence that is higher in the western world and is increasing among low-income populations. Understanding the disease and its treatment involves different fields of knowledge and it is time to discuss the state of the current practice.

This our Tuscan meeting follows the "update on rectal cancer" held last year in Riva del Sole and has the purpose to investigate numerous research areas in colon cancer, such as the biology of the disease, the impact of lifestyle and prevention, and obviously the different surgical approaches to colon cancer treatment in every stage of the disease.

Our main field of interest is minimally invasive surgery, and we will once again reserve plenty of room to robotic and laparoscopic surgery, without overlooking medical and local treatment, especially for metastatic disease.

A very interesting topic involves the reasons behind the difference in prognosis between cancers of the right and the left colon. We will investigate this issue with the contribution of experts in the field of oncology and epidemiology.

We also included a session about teaching and training in general surgery with a particular focus on the potential offered by new technologies and on the impact of a cutting-edge education on future generations of surgeons.

We look forward to see you all in Florence with the hope to make this meeting an opportunity for a lively and constructive multidisciplinary discussion.