Global curriculum in surgical oncology: 2nd edition, 2026

The rising global cancer burden underscores the need for a skilled cancer surgical workforce. Education in the principles of cancer surgery is essential to ensuring a competent cancer surgical workforce. In response, the Society of Surgical Oncology and the European Society of Surgical Oncology jointly published the first Global Curriculum in Surgical Oncology in 2016 to provide a structured framework for the education of cancer surgeons. The updated version of the original curriculum incorporates advances in cancer surgical care from the intervening period, while maintaining the original vision of a globally relevant educational framework.

The global curriculum committees of the Society of Surgical Oncology and the European Society of Surgical Oncology convened a series of meetings to review, revise, and develop the updated global curriculum in surgical oncology.

The second edition of the global curriculum in surgical oncology incorporates key advances in cancer surgical care that have occurred since the publication of the original curriculum. The curriculum retains the foundational principles of the first edition, such as: (a) ensuring that the curriculum is resource-stratified, (b) applicability across diverse geographical regions worldwide, and (c) provision of a flexible and modular, foundational framework that can be adapted to local training needs.

The second edition of the global curriculum in surgical oncology provides resource-stratified, geographically agnostic foundational scaffolding for training the global cancer surgical workforce. Implementation of this curriculum can be instrumental in building a competent surgical oncology workforce capable of addressing the rising global cancer burden.