The 10th International Symposium on Sjögren's Syndrome will take place in Brest, France, October 1-3, 2009. Because there are so many forthcoming breakthroughs in every approach to such a redoubtable disease, these international meetings have become increasingly important. We recognize even more than ever today that Sjögren's syndrome is not restricted to rheumatology, dentistry, or ophthalmology; rather, immune disorders must involve all specialists working together to find answers for a disease that is spread throughout the body.

We have been invited to organize this crossroads event and thus are feeling to be very lucky. In this respect, we all express our gratitude to the leaders in Brittany who agreed to financially support the conference. To stand at the cutting edge of science, our symposium is based on three concepts:

1. Each of the five sessions will involve debate on the following topics: etiology (virus, genetics, epigenetics or sex hormones?), pathophysiology (B cells, T cells, Toll-like receptors and the mosaic of autoantibodies), epidemiology (prevalence, lymphoma, disease assessment and quality of life), what's new in clinics & biology (what we never talk about: teeth, cornea and the new IgG4 syndrome described by the Japanese: do we all agree?), and treatment (further insights into B cell-depleting therapies will be gained). Of note, the point will be made on all the current ongoing trials, which we are aware are of the utmost importance).
2. We invite all of the patient associations and foundations to meet in Brest (France, USA, UK, Italy, Brazil, Israël, Japan, etc...) to ask the question, "How are you doing in your country?", and to collect information on new approaches to meet our common goals. These representative will bring back news to their countries.
3. Finally, a forum will allow all investigators to promote their multicenter/multinational proposals and encourage attendants to participate in their studies.