ANNUAL REPORT 2019 Annual Report 2019 The future of cancer therapy Table of content Message from EORTC Director General 4 State of cancer 6 EORTC network 10 EORTC tumour & cross-discipline groups 13 EORTC infrastructure projects 49 Our partners 53 Engaging patients 54 Fellowships 58 Events & campaigns 59 EORTC general assembly, board & committees 63 Financials 64 The EORTC cancer research fund (ECRF) 66 Publications and clinical trials 2019 77 3 MESSAGE FROM EORTC DIRECTOR GENERAL Driving practice-changing clinical research professionals to become future leaders. The that improves survival and quality of life for Early Career Investigator Leadership Programme cancer patients. This is our mission at the is designed to do just that. In 2019, we engaged EORTC, and one that our community that over 30 young clinical investigators to lead EORTC stretches across Europe and indeed around into an even more audacious future in the fight the world are dedicated to achieve. In 2019, against cancer. we reached major milestones to advance our mission that I am proud to share in this After 50 years leading clinical cancer research, annual report. we have observed weaknesses in European healthcare systems that we strongly believe Our scientific output in 2019 was truly phenom- must be addressed to improve patient treatment enal. EORTC enrolled 2 583 patients in trials and survival. This requires political engagement and screened 3 332 more. We opened 10 trials at European levels, which we officially for enrollment, and continued progressing the embarked on in 2019 with the publication of a 57 ongoing trials from our Brussels headquarters. European manifesto for treatment optimisation. The EORTC community published an impressive Together in a coalition with like-minded partners, 67 papers in renowned scientific journals. Our we have begun advocating for reforms at the infrastructure platforms, SPECTA and E²-RADiatE European Parliament that we hope will lead to have continued to flourish. positive change. When we reflected on our research priorities On behalf of our members, staff and the oncology in 2019, it became clear that we needed to invest community at large, we thank all the generous more in high-quality clinical research in radiation supporters who believe in our mission and oncology. Working with a leading think-tank in contribute financially to our cause. Because of Brussels, we gathered a broad coalition of experts your support through the EORTC Cancer Research to discuss the state of science for radiation Fund (ECRF), we are able to achieve scientific oncology. Three trials emerged from this meeting breakthroughs that turn patients into survivors. that should help to ensure that this discipline remains at the forefront of cancer care. We believe that staying at the vanguard of clinical Denis Lacombe, MD research requires investing in young healthcare EORTC Director General 4 5 STATE OF CANCER STATE OF CANCER IN THE WORLD1 Cancer is the first or second leading cause of premature death (ages 30-69 years) in 134 of 183 countries. 1 in 8 men and 1 in 10 women are likely to develop the disease during STATE OF CANCER IN EUROPE their lifetimes. With more than 3.7 million new cases and 1.9 million deaths each year, cancer represents the The predicted global second most important cause of death and morbidity in Europe. cancer burden is expected to exceed 27 million new Although more than 40 per cent of cancer deaths can be prevented, cancer accounts for 20 cancer cases per year per cent of deaths in the European Region. by 2040, a 50 per cent ASR (world) per 100 000 increase on the estimated 315.5 Not applicable Europe comprises only one eighth of the total world population but has around one quarter 18.1 million cancers in 2018. 296.3-315.5 No data of the global total of cancer cases with some 3.7 million new patients per year. 267.5-296.3 1 World Cancer Report 2020 245.8-267.5 Data source: GLOBOCAN 2018 Graph production: IARC < 245.8 World Health Organization *Estimated age-standardised incidence rates (world) in 2018, all cancers, both sexes, all ages. 6 7 “EORTC serves as a crucial Understanding our and independent hub in the clinical research world with mission and purpose its unique global research infrastructure.” Over the past 150 years, medical researchers have made significant headway against cancer. Cancer survival rates are increasing, and cancer patient quality of life is improving. Researchers are focusing more and more on targeted and precision medicine, adapted to individual patients and their individual tumours. In short, cancer survivors are increasingly able to look forward to leading longer, fuller and more normal lives. Nevertheless, one out of every four women and one out of every three men will face this disease in their lifetime. Even if successfully treated, these In addition, large pragmatic clinical trials FROM THE LAB TO THE BEDSIDE patients will face ongoing long-term survival and addressing patients centered questions are also care challenges. Cancer will remain an urgent crucially needed to establish new therapeutic Founded in 1962 as a non-profit research to a core staff of over 200 at our Brussels office, priority on the global public health agenda. strategies. The European Organisation for organisation, EORTC has long been leading the our network comprises over 930 institutions in Research and Treatment of Cancer is uniquely way in cancer therapy. We play a key role in 30 countries. UNIQUELY POSITIONED TO LEAD positioned to lead these efforts. multi-disciplinary, international translational and clinical research, taking basic science from Ever more ambitious on behalf of the cancer Paradoxically, as researchers develop ever more While the majority of academic institutions and the lab bench to the patient’s bedside. patients whom we ultimately serve, EORTC is precisely targeted cancer treatments, even down research organisations work on a national level working to set the bar higher for research design to the genomic level, the greater the amounts of or on single tumour types, EORTC serves as a Over our history, EORTC has grown its capacity to and global standards of clinical cancer research scientific co-operation they require. Precision crucial, independent and multitumour (including conduct and co-ordinate clinical cancer research, and to ensure greater and deeper co-ordination medicine requires big data and collaboration on rare cancers) hub in the research world with its continuously evolving and adapting its approach amongst research groups and partners. a continental and even global scale. unique global research infrastructure. to reflect the accelerating pace of discovery and progress in cancer therapies, as well as an ever Our work spans tumour types, disciplines, and more complex regulatory framework. Expanding national borders. EORTC specialises in pan- European and international efforts that would be impossible on a national scale. Its synergistic network of institutions offer researchers a transnational research platform with an EORTC practice-changing trials unsurpassed level of quality and efficiency, with Since 1962, EORTC has been conducting large phase III trials that have changed practice improving the a special interest in rare cancers and long-term quality of life and survival of cancer patients. Notable practice changing trials have been conducted in follow-up. EORTC delivers robust data sets and is brain, breast, head and neck, leukemia, sarcoma, melanoma, prostate and rare cancers. committed to generate solid medical evidence. 8 9 EORTC NETWORK Our clinical research covers all types of cancer We conduct activities through tumour and tumours with an integrated approach to modality oriented research groups. evaluating innovative agents and multimodal therapeutic strategies against current standard Beyond tumour-specific research, our experts of care. examine every aspect of cancer therapy, including pharmacology and molecular mechanisms, Our objective is to find the best solution pathobiology, radiotherapy and imaging. for patients from both an efficacy and quality-of-life perspective. CUTANEOUS CANCER PATHO- BRAIN BREAST IMAGING LYMPHOMA IN ELDERLY BIOLOGY PHARMACOLOGY GASTRO GENITO- QUALITY OF ENDOCRINE & MOLECULAR INTESTINAL URINARY LIFE MECHANISMS GYNECO- HEAD & NECK LEUKEMIA LOGICAL LUNG LYMPHOMA MELANOMA SOFT TISSUE & BONES 10 11 EORTC TUMOUR & CROSS-DISCIPLINE GROUPS “Working with over 5000 clinical researchers across the globe, EORTC drives innovation in cancer” Bertrand Tombal, EORTC President 12 13 Top results Final result of INTELLANCE1 indicated a possible role for the use of Depatux-M in combination with temozolomide in EGFR amplified recurrent glioblastoma, especially in patients relapsing after the end of first-line adjuvant temozolomide treatment. Long-term follow-up results of the CATNON2 trial demonstrated that maintenance temozolomide prolongs survival in patients with IDH mutant, 1p/19q-non-codeleted anaplastic gliomas. Primary results of G-SAM3, a large cohort study of matched primary and recurrent IDH WT tumours, BRAIN TUMOUR GROUP established the frequency of GBM driver instability after chemoradiotherapy with temozolomide. It identified genes where repeat surgery is necessary due to low mutation retention rate. Final results of TMT-GLIOMA4 showed that reduced TMT is an independent negative prognostic Mission parameter in patients with progressive glioblastoma. It may help to facilitate patient management by supporting stratification for therapeutic