As an adjective, late-breaking evokes an image of the latest news and developments. Breaking news stories are frequently interrupted from regular programming to provide information about an impending disaster, such as a tornado warning or landfalling hurricane. This type of breaking news is often accompanied by lower thirds and other graphics that emphasize the urgency of the event.
Scientific meetings also feature late-breaking research presentations, but their significance is a bit less urgent. Most of the original research presented at a meeting contains information that is confirmatory, extends previous findings, or is hypothesis generating, but not likely to have a direct impact on clinical practice. However, some of this research has important implications. These are the “Late Breakers.”
The Late-breaking Abstract program recognizes novel and critically important research developments that occur during the lead up to the International Congress. Submissions must describe large clinical studies or high-impact translational research that could not have been completed by the standard abstract submission deadline.
The criteria for selection of a Late-breaking Abstract are strict and adhered to by the Scientific Review Committee. Among other things, the study must be prospective and authors must justify why experiments could not be completed by the abstract submission deadline. The selection process for Late-breaking Abstracts is a rigorous one and many high-quality abstracts are rejected if they do not meet these criteria. The pendulum may have swung too far, though, because it is possible that the hype surrounding Late Breakers might reduce the attention given to other important, relevant research that does not fit the description.