EORTC hosts joint session with ESTRO to focus on latest developments in soft tissue sarcoma treatment

European Organisation for Research and Treatment of CancerDec 3 2013

The EORTC will host a joint session with ESTRO at ESTRO 33 focusing on current developments in soft tissue sarcoma treatment. It will take place from 14:30- 16:00 on Monday, 07 April 2014 in Vienna, Austria and will be co-chaired by Professors Jean-Yves Blay of the Centre Leon Berard in Lyon, France and past EORTC President and Philippe Maingon of the Centre Georges-Fran-ois-Leclerc in Dijon, France, and Chair of the EORTC Radiation Oncology Group.

Prof. Blay explains, "The local treatment is the essential step of the management of patients with soft tissue sarcoma. The majority of survival gains that we can achieve with this patient population should derive from optimizing patient management at an early phase. The EORTC has invested a lot in academic clinical trials devoted to the optimal management of patients with localized tumor and is currently running a trial on preoperative management of patient with retroperitoneal sarcoma which is accruing rapidly, with the support of the Eurosarc group of the FP7. High quality research and practice changing studies are the missions of the EORTC. Working together with the major academic actor of oncology which is ESTRO, potential synergies are obvious. This session will present the state of the art on this rapidly evolving topic."

Prof. Maingon adds, "Both organizations are working on quality in their respective field of interests. EORTC is promoting clinical trials which benefit from a high level of quality in terms of data management and radiation therapy quality assurance. The EORTC Radiotherapy Quality Assurance (RTQA) platform integrates a fully digital central review facility into a tiered level of procedures in order to ensure the safe delivery of complex radiation therapy techniques required for modern multicenter international trials. This program is of key importance in clinical trials dedicated to sarcomas where local control remains a major endpoint. ESTRO is a major actor in the development of new techniques and strongly contribute to the spreading of knowledge through meetings, conferences and a famous educational program. The efforts of both are complementary in improving the outcome of patients suffering from such rare disease."

The planned EORTC - ESTRO session will feature four prominent experts in the oncology and radiation oncology fields.

• Dr. Ronald Keus of Amheim's Radiotherapeutisch Institut in Amhem, The Netherlands, will discuss "Management of Desmoid tumours in 2014."
• Dr. Sylvie Bonvalot of the Institut Gustave Roussy in Paris will speak about "Changes in the local approach of Retroperitoneal sarcoma: A real challenge."
• Dr. Rick Haas of the Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni Van Leeuwenhoekiekenhuis in Amsterdam will present "Limb sarcoma: Should the optimal timing sequence for radiotherapy be the same for all patients?"
• The session will close with a talk by Prof. Juergen Debus of the Universitaetsklinikum in Heidelberg over "Chordoma: Current concepts management and future directions."