Dear Members and Colleagues,

I am greatly honored to serve as the 6th President of the Asia-Pacific Primary Liver Cancer Expert Association (APPLE), a worldwide leading academic organization to foster the exchange of international and regional expertise in the study and management of liver cancer.

Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Norihiro Kokudo, all the former presidents and governing board members. The achievements, which APPLE Association has been making, could never be this brilliant without their excellent leadership and continuous contribution. Also, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Prof. Masatoshi Kudo for his great leadership and contribution to APPLE’s official journal, 'Liver Cancer', which brings extensive and profound influence globally.

Since the first APPLE conference in Incheon in 2010, all annual APPLE conferences have been driving the academic development in the field. In July this year, Professor Ghassan K Abou-Alfa and Professor Linda Wong made an extraordinary APPLE2024 in Hawaii, where I had a strong feeling that we are experiencing an important academic development stage of comprehensive management of hepatobiliary cancer. Now, we are exploring a wide range of aspects from basic research to molecular markers, locoregional therapies to systemic therapies to discuss how to prevent and treat the disease better. Notably, there is an increasing synthesis of Eastern and Western perspectives across multiple disciplines.

As an old saying goes, ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’ With the trust and efforts of Advisory Board, Executive Committee, and the Council members, let’s collaborate to keep elevating APPLE as the leading international academic society for liver cancer and to make the world a better place.

Look forward to seeing you during APPLE conference in Kobe in July 2025.

Thank you.