The announcement of the collaboration between the NDDO Research Foundation, NCI and ESMO was made at the 5th International Symposium on Targeted Anticancer Therapies (TAT 2007) in Amsterdam today. The announcement comes after the appointment of Professor Giuseppe Giaccone, President of the TAT series’ Organizing Committee, as the new Chief of the Medical Oncology Branch in the Center for Cancer Research at the NCI.
NCI will be joining a conference series that has established its reputation, in particular, in the field of early-phase clinical trials and translational research of targeted agents for cancer therapy. John E. Niederhuber, M.D., NCI Director and NCI staff will join the Organizing Committee and the Scientific Advisory Board of the TAT series as of TAT 2008.
Professor Håkan Mellstedt, ESMO’s President, said that ESMO fully supports the expansion of the partnership to include the NCI, as this will further broaden the scientific basis for the conference series and will help strengthen the ties between two of the leading organizations in cancer research and patient care in Europe and the USA.
Dr. Coenraad van Kalken, Director NDDO Research Foundation, views the current development as a logical next step in the maturation of the TAT series and the NDDO Research Foundation as a whole: “The NDDO Research Foundation not only organizes conferences like the TAT meetings, we also support a range of new initiatives in the fields of early diagnosis and prevention of cancer. Therefore, our association with ESMO and NCI through the TAT series may prove beneficial for other NDDO-supported activities as well.”
About the TAT Conference Series
The International Symposium on Targeted Anticancer Therapies (TAT) series was initiated by the Amsterdam-based NDDO Research Foundation in 2002, when the first meeting was held, followed by further meetings in 2003, 2005 and 2006. TAT meetings cover the broad range of innovative anticancer agents with a defined molecular target, including the most promising ones in preclinical and clinical development. TAT meeting programs increasingly incorporate presentation and discussion of results from early-phase clinical trials (phase I and phase II) that have not been released before. Although the focus is on early-phase clinical research and translational research, TAT meetings also provide updates on approved targeted agents undergoing further clinical evaluation in cancer indications and pay ample attention to methodological and regulatory issues in the development process of such agents.
As of 2005, TAT meetings have been organized annually in a partnership with the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO). The TAT series brings together a world-class international faculty from leading research centers worldwide, including academic institutes, industry and government agencies.
About the NDDO Research Foundation
The NDDO Research Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization aimed at initiating, managing and accelerating the application of medical/oncological knowledge and technology in daily practice to the benefit of overall healthcare. It supports educational activities, including the TAT meeting series, and has established the international MDICT (Methodology for the Development of Innovative Cancer Therapies) Task Force to address methodological issues in the development of targeted anticancer drugs. In addition, the NDDO Research Foundation supports and funds new initiatives in the field of cancer diagnosis, treatment and prevention.
The NDDO Research Foundation has a long tradition of organizing symposia and conferences in the field of medical oncology and related disciplines, in particular anticancer drug development. Since 1986, NDDO has been the organizer of various international symposia on new drugs for cancer therapy, gene therapy of cancer, and cellular oncology.
About the European Society for Medical Oncology
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) is the leading European non-profit, professional organization for medical oncology with a focus on promoting multidisciplinary cancer treatment around the world. ESMO unites medical oncologists, oncology specialists, healthcare professionals, caregivers, patients and policy makers in a global alliance committed to eradicating cancer and ensuring equal access to high quality treatment for all patients. Through state-of-the-art education and training programs, ESMO plays an instrumental role in providing the oncology community with the most up-to-date scientific research and information available. ESMO is dedicated to educating and supporting oncologists, optimizing patient care, disseminating cancer-specific information to the public, and advocating patient rights. As an authoritative voice in the fight against cancer, ESMO provides both the platform and the consultative expertise to influence national and international organizations as well as European authorities, in order to establish common standards for a multidisciplinary approach to cancer treatment. Through its flagship journal, Annals of Oncology, ESMO publishes articles on all aspects of clinical oncology. www.esmo.org
About the U.S. National Cancer Institute
The U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI), founded in 1937 and part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is the world’s largest cancer research institution with a total workforce of about 6,000, including more than 350 tenure-track scientists and about 1,100 fellows, and an annual budget of about 4.8 billion US dollars. The NCI supports over 1,300 clinical trials a year involving about 5,600 investigators (FY 2005).
The “NCI Strategic Plan for Leading the Nation to Eliminate the Suffering and Death due to Cancer” has identified as strategic priorities: molecular epidemiology; integrative cancer biology; cancer prevention, early detection and prediction; overcoming cancer health disparities; an integrated clinical trials system; strategic development of cancer interventions; bioinformatics; and international cancer control research. www.cancer.gov