News
Birth of a new EORTC task force
At the last EORTC Strategy meeting held in La Hulpe, Belgium (17-18 March 2010), Prof M. Schlumberger and Prof Schöffski advocated the creation of a new EORTC task force dedicated to clinical and translational research in patients with thyroid and adrenal gland cancers. The EORTC Endocrine Tumors Task Force (EnTF) was born. The aims of the EnTF are inspired by the global EORTC Strategy. The EnTF will aim/strive to develop, conduct, coordinate and stimulate research on patients with thyroid and adrenal gland cancers. All physicians interested by this field are encouraged to contact the EORTC HQ.
Unmet clinical need
Endocrine tumors are rare and historically often unaddressed entities; this is compounded by the scarcity of large, well designed, practice changing academic clinical trials in this field, making them an unmet therapeutic need.
Why now?
Due to recent advances in understanding tumour biology and genetics and to the emergence of a range of new targeted molecules there are real opportunities to offer patients with endocrine tumors new treatments which will hopefully lead to improvements in survival and quality of life.
EORTC, as an international network with a track record for rare tumors and strengths in biobanking and translational research, aims to harness the opportunities provided by targeted molecules to bring new effective treatments to thyroid and adrenal gland tumour sufferers.
Participation of thyroid tumors or adrenal gland tumors in multi-tumour studies involving targeted molecules and the associated cross-tumour TR programs.
Call for interest in the network
The EnTF currently involves institutions in Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and Slovenia, and it is continuing to expand throughout Europe.
Within EnTF there will be a fair balance of endocrinologists and oncologists.