New European collaboration on cancer research

Europe’s leading oncology organisations are combining forces in
the global fight against cancer. The project, EurocanPlatform, has
received €12 million from the European Union to streamline
cross border research. The project will find more effective ways to
ensure the prevention, early discovery and treatment of different
forms of cancer.

Professor Ulrik Ringborg from the Swedish medical university
Karolinska Institutet, who is coordinating the project, comments,
“In a way, you could say that this initiative represents a paradigm
shift in cancer research. The project will last for five years,
establishing a collaborative structure within the EU for cancer
research.”

Despite improved diagnostics and treatment in recent years, the
number of people dying of cancer is expected to rise. Already the
world’s deadliest disease group, cancer is growing as one of the
largest chronic diseases, putting immense pressure on healthcare
systems around the globe.

At the same time, however, modern cancer research is rapidly
improving understanding of the disease, and new technologies are
being developed for use in patient focused cancer research.
Scientists hope that they will one day not only be able to identify
people at risk for cancer, but also adapt therapies to different
types of cancer and to patients’ individual circumstances.

“An important part of the project involves getting the right
therapy to the right patient at the right time,” says Professor
Ringborg. “But before we can get there, we need to do a great deal
of research since the range of possible tumours and therapies is
vast. No one research centre can have the resources needed. We must
make sure that we coordinate and exploit the resources we have to
the full.”

EurocanPlatform is a network of Europe’s 28 most
research-intensive institutions in the field of cancer, of which
the majority are clinical (patient focused), the remainder being
engaged in basic research. A great many researchers from Sweden,
Denmark, Norway, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Hungary, the
Netherlands, Belgium, and Britain are involved in various parts of
the project. The collaborative platform allows individual research
groups and organisations to conduct studies they would not
otherwise have the resources for; with the costs of expensive
equipment, tumour material and competence shared.

“The ultimate winners will be the patients, the public and the
healthcare services.” adds Professor Ringborg.

EurocanPlatform is due to hold its first conference in Stockholm
on 20 January 2011. The project has gained funding under the EU’s
Seventh Framework Programme and is classed as a Network of
Excellence (NoE).

Below is a list of the EurocanPlatform partners: