The 16th World Congress on Endometriosis 2025 (WCE 2025) kicked off on May 21, 2025, at Darling Harbour in Sydney, Australia. Lasting for 4 days, the conference concluded successfully on May 24, 2025. It attracted over 1,000 delegates from 43 countries, including top experts in the global endometriosis field who presented the most cutting-edge research findings. The agenda was splendid, featuring lectures and discussions in various modules focusing on endometriosis pathogenesis theories, diagnostic targets, treatment, and related social-mental health issues. Special sessions such as the China-Australia Special Session, India-Australia Special Session, and European Endometriosis League (EEL) Special Session were also set up to promote academic exchanges among scholars from different countries. In addition to inviting experts and scholars to give oral presentations, the conference venue included a poster research gallery and roundtable discussion sessions, integrating diverse academic exchange formats. This push summarizes some wonderful moments of the conference and provides a brief share for readers.
Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony began with a traditional Australian Didgeridoo performance, offering a unique and warm welcome to colleagues from around the world. The conference was opened by Stacey Missmer, President of the World Endometriosis Society (WES), and co-chairs Professor Jason Abbott and Professor Gita Mishra. They emphasized that the conference focuses on endometriosis and related diseases, the most common and distressing health issue for women of childbearing age, and called on participating experts and scholars to continue forging ahead for the future of women's health.
Hot Topics
The conference set up multiple presentation modules, inviting outstanding scholars from different countries to share their cutting-edge work in various directions. Among them were many Chinese speakers, including invited experts such as Professor Guo Sunwei and Professor Liu Xishi from Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University, and Professor Zhang Xinmei from Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Young scholars and postgraduate teams led by Professor Xu Hong and Professor Zhang Jian from International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, as well as Professor Huang Zhichao's team from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, also attended to share their research achievements in the field of endometriosis. The following are introductions to some hot topics:
1. China-Australia Special Session at WCE 2025 (Click "Previous Recommendations" at the end of the article to view)
To promote China-Australia friendship and academic exchanges, and showcase the academic achievements of Chinese scholars to global counterparts, the conference held a China-Australia Special Session under the leadership of Professor Guo Sunwei. Four invited speakers—Professor Zhang Xinmei from Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Professor Liu Xishi from Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University, Dr. Sarah Choi from Sydney Women's Endoscopic Surgery Center in Australia, and Dr. Fiona Cousins from Hudson Institute of Medical Research—took the lead. They introduced the current research results and future research directions of leading scholars in China and Australia, highlighting the arduous and outstanding work of Chinese and Australian scholars in endometriosis diagnosis and treatment, as well as the profound friendship rooted in academic development. In addition, the session set up a "Best Speaker" award. Four invited speakers scored and selected the first place in the oral presentations among young speakers, aiming to encourage young scholars to actively participate in the construction of women's health.
2. Emerging Theories on Endometriosis Pathogenesis
This module focused on emerging theories and evidence regarding the occurrence and development of endometriosis. The theories included the relationship between abnormal immune profiles, pathological immune tolerance mechanisms and endometriosis implantation and growth, neuroimmune communication and pain symptoms, epithelial-mesenchymal transition theory in the endometrial cycle, exploration of abnormal hormonal characteristics of endometriosis using steroid metabolomics analysis, and vascularized microphysiological changes in endometriosis. These innovative perspectives opened new windows for understanding the occurrence and development of endometriosis.
3. Health Equity Issues in Endometriosis Diagnosis and Treatment Across Different Countries and Regions
This module mainly discussed the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis patients in low- and middle-income countries, rural and remote areas. It focused on the diagnosis delay, patient population characteristics, and disease management strategies in these regions with relatively limited medical resources. The aim was to call on global scholars to pay attention to health equity among endometriosis patients and promote the common progress of global women's health.
4. From Hospital to Community: Holistic Care and Monitoring of Endometriosis
The management of endometriosis is not merely a "hospital-based" issue. The long-term health management of endometriosis patients requires the joint cooperation of hospitals and communities. Therefore, this module mainly discussed symptom monitoring and community support for endometriosis, proposing new perspectives such as using smartwatches for symptom monitoring, exercise and pelvic floor muscle training to improve pain symptoms, and using digital storytelling for community psychological support for endometriosis patients.
5. Potential Breakthrough Drug Therapies for Endometriosis
This module shared the cutting-edge work of scholars from different countries in the development of drug therapies for endometriosis. Among them, Dr. Jin Zhixing from The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University shared the potential therapeutic value of Primidone in inhibiting TRPM3 for the management of adenomyosis. Experiments in mouse models verified that Primidone alleviates the infiltration of lesions into the myometrium and adenomyosis-related pain symptoms, suggesting its effectiveness for both.
6. The Role and Innovation of Surgery and Surgical Methods in Endometriosis
This module discussed innovative management methods for endometriosis, including the application of colonoscopy in preoperative staging of colorectal deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) and ethanol sclerotherapy for ovarian endometriosis. Dr. Zhao Xiaoya from International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, shared the efficacy of hysteroscopic lesion resection with or without levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) in patients with symptomatic adenomyosis. She concluded that the combination of LNG-IUS has a positive impact on postoperative prognosis, especially in relieving menorrhagia.
7. Advantages and Challenges of In Vitro Endometriosis Model Research
This module shared explorations in experimental models of endometriosis, including the use of gene knockout mouse models to study endometriosis mutations and organoid culture models, which are currently a research hotspot in the international biological field. Speakers analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of different endometriosis modeling methods, providing a forward-looking perspective for future research on endometriosis.
8. Endometriosis Staging Systems and Their Challenges
Invited speaker Professor Guo Sunwei from Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University shared existing and emerging endometriosis staging systems in this module, linking the manifestations of each stage to the progression of endometriosis. Professor Guo argued that a reasonable staging system for endometriosis progression is crucial for prognostic stratification, treatment guidance, standardized medical communication, research and clinical trials, patient consultation, resource allocation, and epidemiological tracking. He emphasized the application of lesion fibrosis degree in the construction of endometriosis staging systems.
9. The Association Between Endometriosis and Fertility
This module invited multiple scholars to share insights on the correlation between endometriosis and infertility, focusing on the theme of endometriosis and fertility. It paid attention to the interaction between endometrial cells and immune cells, changes in hormone profiles, and strategies to improve pregnancy outcomes in endometriosis patients.
10. Endometriosis and the Lifecycle
This module mainly discussed the whole-cycle health of endometriosis, presenting unique perspectives such as the correlation between childhood and adult trauma and endometriosis, menopausal characteristics of endometriosis patients, and the association between pollutant levels and endometriosis. It provided new thinking angles on how to view endometriosis from a disease-centered approach to a patient-centered approach.
11. Application of High-Throughput Analysis Technology in Endometriosis Research
This module demonstrated the molecular typing and application of high-throughput technologies in endometriosis research worldwide, focusing on large-sample genetic characteristic analysis of endometriosis. It showed how to realize the transformation of technology in the field against the backdrop of rapid scientific and technological development, opening up new horizons for understanding endometriosis pathogenesis and exploring diagnostic and therapeutic targets.
Special Session
On May 25, 2025, at the end of the WCE 2025 conference, a WES/WERF roundtable forum was held with the theme: Cutting-Edge Research Directions in Endometriosis. Professor Guo Sunwei delivered a speech during the discussion, putting forward urgent issues to be addressed in current endometriosis-related research: how to truly cure endometriosis, whether there are other inducing or alleviating factors, how to track and predict the occurrence and development of lesions, how to detect micro-lesions early, and how to integrate all evidence to establish a reasonable staging system. These issues are not only the focus of our future work but also an outline for the landscape of women's health related to endometriosis.
WCE 2025 Poster Presentations
During the 16th World Congress on Endometriosis 2025 (WCE 2025) held from May 21 to 24, 2025, a special poster research gallery was set up to display submissions from around the world. It encouraged participating scholars to present their research results in a vivid combination of text and images. With its unique interactivity and cutting-edge nature, it became one of the most dynamic academic focuses of this conference. During the conference, over 260 posters were displayed, covering multiple themes such as pathogenesis, diagnostic targets, treatment innovation, and social-psychological support, attracting scholars to stop and discuss. In addition, the conference selected 24 Best Posters. The official WCE 2025 website has set up a virtual poster gallery, allowing scholars who did not attend the conference to explore interesting content in this academic treasure trove.
1. New Insights into the Pathogenesis of Endometriosis
The pathological mechanism of infertility caused by endometriosis has long been widely discussed among scholars worldwide. At this conference, Dr. Sze Wan Hung from The Chinese University of Hong Kong presented the team's work. Their study used transcriptome sequencing on ovarian tissue from a mouse model of ovarian endometrioma and found that the abnormal upregulation of cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions may be potentially associated with infertility in patients with ovarian endometrioma. Director Chen Yichen from Women and Children's Hospital Affiliated to Ningbo University shared the team's research on ectopic implantation of endometriotic lesions. They found that EIF2AK3 mutation can promote ectopic implantation of endometriotic lesions by affecting mitophagy, providing in-depth insights into the pathogenesis of endometriosis.
2. The Collision Between Technology and Imaging Diagnosis of Endometriosis
Many posters focused on the application of digital information technology and imaging technology in improving the diagnostic accuracy of endometriosis. Dr. Yuan Zhang from The University of Adelaide in Australia shared her team's research. The artificial intelligence model developed by their work can efficiently detect Douglas pouch adhesions and rectal nodules through magnetic resonance imaging and transvaginal ultrasound, showing high accuracy and clinical applicability. It is the first fully automatic, non-surgical method for diagnosing multiple endometriosis markers. Dr. Zhu Qian from International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine compared the imaging characteristics of intrinsic and extrinsic adenomyosis and linked them to patients' clinical features, proposing a new perspective on imaging interpretation.
3. Potential Therapeutic Methods for Endometriosis
The exploration of potential molecular therapeutic targets was also a hot topic of the research presented in the posters. The research results brought by Professor Xu Hong's team from International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine found that N-acetylcysteine (NAC) can inhibit the growth of endometriotic lesions by targeting the ROS-CHK1-SGK1 pathway. Mouse models were established and treated with NAC, which was found to reduce lesion weight, decrease ROS levels, and lower proliferative activity. These results suggest that NAC is expected to become a new treatment option for endometriosis.
4. Social-Psychological Issues and Support for Endometriosis
Centering on the theme of health management for women with endometriosis, the conference not only emphasized the biological issues related to endometriosis but also discussed health equity and social-psychological support for endometriosis against the backdrop of global uneven medical resources. It called on participants to pay attention to the differences in the portraits of endometriosis patients from different social backgrounds and work together to promote health equity. Among them, Ms. Fatima Kathrada from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa demonstrated the complexity of endometriosis in South African women. Patients experience severe pain, multi-organ symptoms, delayed diagnosis, and decreased quality of life. Meanwhile, the success rate of assisted reproductive technology is limited, so infertility imposes a heavier burden. This highlights the importance of timely multidisciplinary diagnostic management and patient support. Director Peng Chao from Peking University First Hospital shared the team's research on the correlation between endometriosis and miscarriage, calling on everyone to pay attention to the series of health and socioeconomic burdens brought by endometriosis.