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Address to OECI Members by the President, Doctor Marco A. Pierotti (Fondazione IRCCS “Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori”, Milano) |
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It is a privilege to have been appointed President of the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes, the OECI, following in the steps of Prof. Ulrik Ringborg and other outstanding predecessors.
Before accepting the Presidency, I considered at length what might be the right way to approach a prestigious role that cannot be a means to sustain national or even local interests. My mandate will follow three main guidelines: the pursuit of knowledge, the reduction of fragmentation, and the increase of competitiveness, as they are all instrumental in achieving one goal – to find new and better treatments, provide more comprehensive care and improve the patients’ quality of life supported by evidence-based medicine with a holistic approach.
My recent experience at the lead of the European Association for Cancer Research made me realize that an organization like OECI has a far greater possibility to carry out productive actions, as it can contribute to the building of the European Research Area in the field of cancer thus reducing fragmentation and improving European competitiveness. To this aim, it is mandatory to put into action a program that could be of interest to the EU and national funding bodies.
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One of the conclusions from the Eurocan + Plus project (A Platform for Translational Cancer Research)
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Cancer affects everybody. According to a recent WHO study, 3.2 million people are
diagnosed with cancer each year in Europe with 1.7 million annual casualties and
the situation is set to worsen in general terms as the European population ages.
There is not a single person who hasn’t been touch by cancer or has had or will have
a friend or family member diagnosed with the disease. This dismal state of affairs
nderpins the need for developing strategies as well as novel approaches to reduce
cancer incidence, morbidity and mortality.
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"Managing cancer in the EU: The Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI)"
by U. Ringborg, M. Pierotti, G. Storme, T. Tursz in European Journal of Cancer 44 (2008) 772-773
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Organization of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) has the mission to facilitate the development
of European comprehensive cancer centres by integrating care and prevention with
research and education. Core issues are to deliver a complete multidisciplinary care of high
quality and stimulate translational cancer research. The goal is to innovate the cancer care.
The increasing problem of critical mass will be solved by networking comprehensive cancer
centres containing quality assured harmonized infrastructures. This will give Europe a
new potential to extend the cancer research to areas not possible to cover by single centres
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"The Stockholm Declaration" by U. Ringborg in Molecular Oncology 2 (2008) 10-11
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European cancer research, when looked at in a global perspective,
has a number of unique strengths, such as a strong foundation
in biomedical science, good patient registries and
biobanks. However, research is still fragmented and lacks
the critical mass needed to translate basic research discoveries
into a clinical setting for the diagnosis and treatment of
cancer patients.
Oncology is a unique discipline which is increasingly
depending on multidisciplinarity. The concept was progressively
defined during the 20th century and developed around
clinical considerations in order to have surgeons, radiologists,
pathologists, radiation- and medical oncologists working
together in concord.
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The OECI Mission Statement
The Organization of European Cancer Institutes (OECI)
A European Economic Interest Grouping
The OECI mission is to bring together the cancer research and care institutions
of the EU in order to create a critical mass of expertise and competence with the
view of building and maintaining a consensus on the best models of oncology,
developing concrete affordable and realistic solutions to effectively combat cancer,
and fostering the widest deployment of oncology models and solutions to improve
the quality of life for the patients in the EU.
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The position of the organization of European Cancer Institutes
Open Letter to the European Commission
and to the Ministers of Health and Research in the Member States
The position of the organization of European Cancer Institutes
Each year in the EU, 2 million people die of cancer and 3 million new cancer cases are diagnosed.
Cancer is an increasing health threat and combating it places enormous economic and social burdens
on the national health systems and health institutions. Concerted political action is required now,
to control the growing incidence of the disease.
In addition to encouraging primary prevention, we need affordable effective treatments for all citizens.
This goal will not be achieved unless there are concerted efforts at the EU-level to improve the
effectiveness of oncology in all of the various health-care systems. The problem of fragmentation
in care and research can only be solved with the development of multidisciplinary care and research,
the integration of care, research, and education, and the collaboration necessary to reach a critical mass.
The focus is harmonized comprehensive cancer centers to create innovation.
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- ACCREDITATION - kick off meeting
16 October, Paris - more details in August
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Workshop, WG Pathobiology - Structure and Genetics, the new Paradigm
24 & 25 October, Cluj, Romania
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Board meeting - 5th November, Brussels
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Final TRANSFOG meeting - "Technology Showcase", November 6-7 2008, Brussels
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OECI Week (WG workshops; Scientific Conference and General Assembly) – 20 to 24 May 2009, Manchester
- Workshop
”Nurses and multidisciplinarity in a comprehensive cancer centre”
2009, date to be confirmed
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