Succesfull first digital TRYTRAC Program meeting TRYTRAC offers the next generation research leaders a way to deepen their learning about each partner site and its state of the art research and technology. The aim is to build a strong future community network to seize opportunities of ideas from each partner, and together turn them into collaborative projects. The first digital workshop took place on April 22 and 23. Six sessions, 17 researchers. Stefano Cavalieri, was one of them. A retrospective Stefano Cavalieri, medical oncologist and clinical researcher at the Head and Neck Medical Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, [...]

Cancer Core Europe’s design and development of data rich, dynamic studies in oncology Incorporating experts from the seven European comprehensive cancer centers belonging to the Cancer Core Europe (CCE) Consortium, along with an additional four non-CCE partners*, the EU-funded, multi-site project CCE Building Data Rich Clinical Trials (CCE-DART), has now launched. Coordinated by VHIO’s Elena Garralda, CCE-DART seeks to become a groundbreaking example in driving a novel generation of clinical trials in the current era of precision oncology. This pioneering project will develop interconnected tools to reduce the current complexity of investigator-initiated trials and better guide clinical decision-making by [...]

CCE’s own advanced training program TRYTRAC launched Education being the third pillar of CCE’s revised strategy, is a cornerstone to guarantee the sustainability of the consortium. The TRYTRAC program – “A European advanced TRaining program for Young cancer leaders in TRAnslational Cancer research” – was launched last November.The program aims to increase interactions between the clinical and translational researchers of the CCE member institutions. And it directs to promote the next generation leadership, contributing to a strong network. Not only will it allow participants to learn from the best, but also get to know each center more in-depth while increasing [...]

Valtteri Wirta is the new Genomics task force leader Since this month Valtteri Wirta is the new Genomics task force leader. He would like to take the opportunity to thank Lodewyk Wessels for coordinating in an excellent way the Genomics task force the last five years. And he introduces himself. “I have been a member and representative for KI in the Genomics task force since its launch five years ago, and I am now look forward the continued work as task force leader. It is imperative to highlight that the work done by the task force is truly collaborative [...]

Seven European centres develop a web-based decision-making support tool for oncologist to improve treatment selection The increasing number and complexity of biomarkers that guide the selection of new therapies against cancer fragments knowledge on the biology of the disease and hinders the implementation of precision medicine. A new digital platform combines different cutting-edge bioinformatics methods with access to multiple databases to interpret the clinical relevance of the molecular alterations observed in the tumour of each patient. This new tool is described in a recent article published in Nature Medicine. The tool was used to analyse more than 500 tumours [...]

Adapted care for cancer patients due to COVID-19 ABSTRACT Cancer Core Europe (CCE) have been forced by COVID-19 to adapt their approach to the treatment of patients with cancer. While still providing the same quality of care, of course. The specialist centres not only want to prevent the spread of the virus in general, but also to protect patients with cancer whose disease and treatment make them especially vulnerable to complications if infected. They describe the measures taken in an article in the authoritative journal Nature Medicine In the space of just a few weeks, the European cancer centres [...]

Boosting the social impact of innovative cancer research – towards a mission-oriented approach to cancer The increasing cancer burden is one of the leading medical societal challenges today. The number of new cancer patients in Europe is expected to increase from 3.6 (2015) to 4.3 million over the next two decades; it has now reached 3.91 million. Moreover, the number of patients living with a cancer diagnosis is ever increasing, making cancer a significant chronic disease. In Europe, the total number of cancer deaths amounts to 1.94 million annually (Ferlay et al., 2018). So far, the results of our [...]

Towards a mission‐oriented approach to cancer in Europe: an unmet need in cancer research policy ABSTRACT Today, cancer is a significant challenge for society, healthcare systems and the growing number of affected patients and their families. This article argues that new paradigms and conditions for responsible science and innovation policy across the European Union (EU) require (i) the collective action of Research & Development institutions, (ii) a system approach to health systems, higher education and patient organizations, and (iii) new initiatives to encourage international cooperation across an enlarged Europe; no single country can successfully fight the disease(s) on its [...]

New clinical trial designs in the era of precision medicine ABSTRACT Cancer treatment has made significant strides towards the promise of personalized medicine. Recent scientific advances have shown that there are numerous genetic deregulations that are common in multiple cancer types, raising the possibility of developing drugs targeting those deregulations irrespective of the tumour type. Precision Cancer Medicine (PCM) was born out of accumulated evidence matching targeted agents with these tumour molecular deregulations. At the same time, the therapeutic armamentarium is rapidly increasing and the number of new drugs (including immune‐oncology agents) entering drug development continues to rise. These [...]

German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) – A national consortium for translational cancer research ABSTRACT The German Cancer Consortium (‘Deutsches Konsortium für Translationale Krebsforschung’, DKTK) is a long‐term cancer consortium, bringing together the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Germany's largest life science research center, and the leading University Medical Center‐based Comprehensive Cancer Centers (CCCs) at seven sites across Germany. DKTK was founded in 2012 following international peer review and has positioned itself since then as the leading network for translational cancer research in Germany. DKTK is long term funded by the German Ministry of Research and Education and the federal states [...]