European Forum on Oncology 2012

Dr Siegfried Bialojan talks to ecancer about improving health outcomes at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012. Analysing changes in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr Bialojan says that pharmaceutical companies need to shift from only selling drugs to improving health outcomes in patients. Three aims companies’ should strive for are understanding patient data in different ways, collaborating more with non-traditional partners and altering their business model to focus more on service.

Dr Silvia Marsoni, Director of clinical research at The Institute for Cancer Research in Candiolo, talks to ecancer about primary and secondary resistance in colorectal cancer at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012. Dr Marsoni’s project aims to understand how patients respond to EGF therapy and why the majority do not respond to treatment. In order to take this back to the lab, mouse models are used to mimic the immune system of the patient. The data can then be used, again, in the clinic to improve and treatment.

Dr Richard Sullivan talks to ecancer about the Institute of Cancer Policy at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012. The ICP is a new initiative addressing cancer policy and global public health. The institute will bring together specialists from inside and outside the field of oncology to look at the problems of health economics and the state of cancer research and drug development.

Prof Thomas Tursz talks to ecancer about the movement towards personalised medicine and the current problems in clinical trials in Berlin, May 2012. The movement towards personalised medicine indicates a need for reorganisation in clinical trials. In clinical trials, 97% of patients in Europe are not in a trial. These patients are at a disadvantage because the process of joining a clinical trial involves a much more thorough analysis of their disease. Data shows that patients in clinical trials have better outcomes than those not in them.

Professor Stefan Pfister talks to ecancer about identifying prognostic biomarkers and next generation genomic sequencing at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012. Working within the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research, Prof Pfister explains their goals of increasing translational oncology in research and in the clinic. In the future, they hope to exploit sequencing technology in diagnostics so tumour and blood sequencing can take place for each patient.

Professor Ulrik Ringborg, project coordinator of EurocanPlatform, talks to ecancer about the first year of the project at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012. The goals of EurocanPlatform are to create a consortium, advance technological resources and increase the involvement of patients in treatment. During the first year of the project, clinical trials have begun from interaction between institutions. These trials demonstrate the effective transfer of information from pre-clinical to clinical trials.

Prof Wim van Harten, chairmen of the OECI, talks to ecancer about the first year of the EurocanPlatform project at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012. In the EurocanPlatfrom project, the Organisation of the European Cancer Institute is defining the role of the centre as an organisation to do optimal research in translational medicine. In addition, the OECI’s involvement in the EurocanPlatform Work Package aimed at drafting a system to designates excellence in comprehensive cancer centre and reaching how this should look. Testing on this plan is to being in the next year.

Prof Reinhard Busse talks to ecancer about the large variation in 5 year survival rates between countries in Europe at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012. Prof Busse discusses the heterogeneity of cancer outcomes and the large discrepancies between countries, such as Norway and Ireland, whose five year survival rate in cervical cancer differs by 20%. Similar results are also seen in colon and breast cancer. While cervical cancer now has a vaccine, data can only be observed retrospectively and results from the 1990s and mid-2000s show little to no change in survival and development of the disease. In breast and colon cancer, the development of the disease has reduced, but without a reduction in variations between countries.

Prof Maria Ferrantini talks to ecancer about the ERA-NET TRANSCAN FP7 project at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012. Prof Ferrantini is the project manager for this branch of the European Research Area Network project. The project began in January 2011 with the aim of coordinating funding for cancer research, especially translational research, within a consortium of 25 organisations, from 19 EU member states.

Prof Julio Celis talks to ecancer about the advancements made after one year in the FP7 project, EurocanPlatform, at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012. Prof Celis, one of the original coordinators of EurocanPlatform, believes that many partner institutes have used the platform to share clinical data. The collaboration between institutes shows the potential for more clinical trials through the sharing of information through other communication platforms.

Prof Jens Ricke talks to ecancer about the need to move away from pharmaceutically funded approaches to personalised medicine at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012. Personalised medicine is an individual treatment for an individual patient’s unique disease. However, current clinical trials funded by pharmaceutical companies do not result in such treatments. Prof Ricke suggests selecting doctors from a large group of specialists to develop an individual plan for each patient.

Prof Ioana Neagoe talks to Prof Gordon McVie of ecancer about bringing together the strengths of institutes in Eastern and Western Europe at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012. Prof Neagoe recently helped organise and hosted an innovative meeting in Romania on molecular pathology. This course, run since 2008, was organised with help from ESO and the OECI. Also discussed is the potential for innovations in molecular profiling through vast bio-banks in Eastern European institutes.

Prof Hubert Serve talks to ecancer about the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012. The German Federal government funds the consortium, which promotes research through improving clinical communication platforms. These platforms bring results from the lab to the clinic, and make data available to other institutes. The consortium also aims to prioritise and monitor clinical trial activity within its institutes and provide an improved patient based workflow.

Prof Hedvig Hricak talks to ecancer about molecular imaging at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012. The development of molecular imaging is essential for advancing precision medicine.Tissue biomarkers provide essential information about cancer genetics and other details of tumor biology; however, they depend on limited samples. As has been recently documented, tremendous biological heterogeneity exists within primary lesions, and tumor metastases dedifferentiate. Molecular imaging allows in vivo, non-invasive assessment of biomarkers throughout the entire primary tumour and all metastatic sites. Therefore, it is especially important for developing and implementing predictive biomarkers for determining whether a particular therapy is likely to work in an individual patient or for monitoring treatment response, and it can reveal differences in treatment response among different disease sites. In the laboratory and the clinic, molecular imaging is providing key insights into intra- and intertumoral biological heterogeneity. Prof Hricak discusses the role of molecular imaging in precision medicine, providing some specific examples of techniques now in use and touching on emerging concepts such as integrated diagnostics and theranostics.

Prof Guy Storme talks to ecancer about radiation oncology research at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012. Advances in imaging technology are important in cancer diagnosis as tumours are visualised in relation to different organs. The result of precision imaging is a more effective use of targeted molecules. Further research can be done into each organ and specific markers to indicate where to focus treatment.

Dr Ged Brady talks to ecancer at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012 about the concept behind the EurocanPlatform and combining the resources of institute in order to create normalised templates for therapy and identifying biomarkers. Prof Brady finds that in practice, oncologists communicate and learn through journals and conferences, but there is a need for talking to peers and learning from them. Platforms like this allow institutes and members of those institutes to bring together ideas and resources with a strong focus. Early examples of sharing methodologies and results at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research have been in the field of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and the technology that allows for their isolation and numeration.

Prof Cornelia Ulrich talks to ecancer at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012, about the importance of lifestyle changes for cancer patients and how these changes can be as effective as certain drug treatments. Studies show that many patients ask what they can do to improve their outcomes when diagnosed with cancer and the ability to affect their quality of life during and post therapy. Prof Ulrich’s work with post menopausal, obese women shows that patients with breast cancer show an increased motivation to help themselves through a change of diet and an addition of exercise. Smoking cessation is another critical variable in prevention. All of these factors, as well as molecular diagnosis, indicate the importance of keeping the patient’s best interest in mind.

Prof Claudio Lombardo talks to ecancer at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012, about the concept of the ‘living lab’ and the open European research area. These ideas, which have been present in areas such as the US, aim to pool funding and resources in order to advance research. Prof Lombardo stresses the need for more people to be informed on the possibilities of open research funding and research platforms such as the EurocanPlatform and Transcan, which would lead to the improvement of conducting translational research.

Prof Anton Berns talks to ecancer at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012, about the progress of the EurocanPlatform project. The EurocanPlatform is a European Commission project designed to create a platform that brings together the top 23 cancer centres and 5 cancer organisations in Europe. The project allows institutes to jointly analyse patients and patient data to lead to a quicker creation of clinical trials. This platform will be an example for other institutes on how to share information and improve outcomes by improving diagnostics.

Prof Angelo Paradiso talks to ecancer at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012, about the results of an educational needs survey conducted through the EurocanPlatform project. Prof Paradiso, a specialist in post-graduate education in oncology, found large gaps in education events related to psychology, nursing and patient education through the survey that collected data from over 200 oncology education events last year. He found lab to clinic education, but not clinic to patient and a lack of location specific events with pancreatic and brain cancers. As an example of how to correct these gaps, Prof Paradiso talks about a meeting recently held at Giovanni Paolo II National Cancer Institute on molecular pathology.