News Archive

2013

Register to the ECC 2013 and save money as SIOPE member!

ECCO17 - ESMO38 - ESTRO32 European Cancer Congress, 27 September – 1st October 2013, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Join the European Cancer Congress in Amsterdam: as a SIOPE member you can save money on the registration to the premier cancer congress in Europe. At this Congress, you can meet your colleagues from all over the world and present your work at the largest platform for practice-changing data in Europe. Be part of this influential Congress, and make sure SIOPE and paediatric oncology is represented! You can register to theEuropean Cancer Congress in Amsterdam by 20th September 2013. More information

Lancet Oncology Series of articles on Paediatric Oncology

Thanks to the efforts of several SIOPE and ENCCA partners, our community has been able to suggest solutions for the specific challenges that cancer in children and adolescents currently presents. The contributions to the Series drew upon a global faculty of 34 experts from 19 countries, whose combined experience (including that of childhood cancer parent advocates) covers everything related to care, research, and education to continue to make progress and conveys our concerns to a broad audience of professionals in our field and policy-makers. You can read the Series' press release here and find more information on the Serieshere.

2012

Access to Rare Cancer Care: European survey

One of the objectives of the Rare Cancers Europe initiative is to improve access to rare cancer care in the EU, by addressing all issues affecting rare cancers’ patients. A survey (closed on 15 December 2012) has been widely disseminated, to lay the foundation for the first-ever Rare Cancers EU Access Index, comparing different aspects of rare cancer care and policy in the EU. The survey results will be disseminated through the RCE network for information, education and advocacy purposes. You can answer the survey, here.

Teenage Cancer Trust’s Conference on Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Medicine

The Teenage Cancer Trust’s  7th International Conference on Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Medicine took place on 25-26 June 2012 in London, UK. This is the only conference of its kind in the world, and it has become known as the must-attend conference for those working in the field of teenage and young adult cancer.More Information.

Childhood Cancer Survivor Bike Race raises awareness in Italy

On the occasion of a professional bike race involving the top cyclists in Italy, a special race took place on 06 May 2012 in the beautiful Marostica, an hour away from wonderful Venice. As part of the dissemination activities of the EU-funded project PanCareSurFup (PanCare Childhood and Adolescent Cancer Survivor Care and Follow-Up Studies), ‘The Race of Brave Bikers’ saw the participation of 30 young cancer patients from across Europe, on a special 10km route and even longer for several participants. The race demonstrated not only their immense courage, but also on the importance of optimum quality-of-life for the many survivors, and the need to promote research studies into late effects of the complex paediatric cancer treatment.

European Patients‘ Academy on Therapeutic Innovation (EUPATI)

The consortium project "European Patients‘ Academy on Therapeutic Innovation" (EUPATI), funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative, will provide scientifically reliable, objective, comprehensive information to patients on medicines research and development. It will increase the capacities and capabilities of well-informed patients and patient organisations to be effective advocates and advisors in medicines research.

SIOPE marks World Health Day 7 April 2012

We should focus on children to ensure good health in the future. This is the key message that SIOPE wants to share onWorld Health Day, Saturday 7 April. The theme the WHO chosed for this year is: "Ageing and health: Good health adds life to years", and SIOPE strongly supports improvements in the health and living conditions of children and adolescents with cancer.

Better early diagnosis for young people with cancer: pan-European brain tumour campaign launched

Collaboration between SIOPE, the International Confederation of Childhood Cancer Parent Organisations (ICCCPO) and the UK-based HeadSmart campaign, has been launched on Rare Disease Day, 29 February 2012. Reducing the time needed to diagnose a brain tumour is important and can have significant clinical outcomes. HeadSmart is now set to be rolled outin other EU countries. Groups in Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, Austria, Poland and Spain are devising strategies to roll-out a similar campaign, sharing best practice tools and techniques to target GPs and the public. A press release is available here.

ICCCPO and SIOP are collaborating to encourage earlier detection of childhood cancer

Each year 175,000 children worldwide are diagnosed with cancer, of which an estimated 90,000 will die from the disease. The exact number of new cases is not known because in many countries not all children with cancer are registered and many are not diagnosed correctly. The International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) and the International Confederation of Childhood Cancer Parent Organisations (ICCCPO) have prepared a Joint Action Plan on early warning signs for childhood cancer. Here is apress release providing information on this campaign More on the Action Plan is available on www.siop.nl and www.icccpo.org.

Scientists find rare childhood kidney cancer gene fault

Faults in gene called DIS3L2 are linked to an increased risk of a form of childhood kidney cancer, scientists have discovered. The finding, published in Nature Genetics, gives scientists crucial insights into how Wilms's tumours are caused. The research could lead to better ways to detect and treat the disease, according to Cancer Research UK, which part-funded the project.More information.

International Childhood Cancer Day event at the European Parliament

SIOP Europe (SIOPE) marked International Childhood Cancer Day on 7 February 2012 at the European Parliament to raise awareness of child and adolescent cancer. During this event hosted by Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Mrs. Glenis Willmott (UK), a range of stakeholders involved in paediatric oncology and health policy issues debated the many challenges childhood cancer presents to jointly find a political pathway to instigate change. Please find here a press release, all speakers' presentations, pictures and much more on this major event. Thanks to pan-European partnerships and quality-assured clinical care, the treatment of children with cancer can be considered a success story today, with approximately 80% of young cancer patients surviving in Europe. Childhood cancer is nevertheless a rare, non-preventable and life-threatening disease; treatments are complex and require specialist input in order to counter long-term effects and provide a good quality-of-life for the increasing number of survivors. The revision of the EU Clinical Trials Directive, the EU Paediatric Regulation and earlier diagnosis campaigns will be discussed, particularly improved diagnosis of paediatric brain tumours. For further information on the event, please contact the SIOPE office atoffice<at>siope.eu (please replace <at> with @)

World Cancer Day - “Together let’s do something”

World Cancer Day takes place every year on 4 February and is the sole initiative under which the entire world can unite together in the fight against the rising cancer epidemic. Every month 600,000 people die from the disease and it is believed that such high figures could be avoided with increased government support and funding for prevention and treatment programmes. According to Professor Andreas Ullrich, Medical Officer Cancer Control Department at the World Health Organisation, “World Cancer Day is a reminder to us all to take action against the increasing burden of cancer as cancer cases are projected to almost double by 2030”. This year’s theme revolves around unity, as the scale of the cancer epidemic requires a global response. It is a disease that knows no boundaries and has, or will affect us all directly or indirectly during our lifetime. It is therefore of great importance to create awareness in order to decrease the burden of cancer. It is only by every person, organisation, and government individually doing their part that this can be achieved on a global scale.More information.

A second chance to influence the Clinical Trials Directive

The European Commission has given its clearest indication yet of likely changes to the EU law governing clinical trials. The 2001 Clinical Trials Directive is one of the most sharply-criticised pieces of pharmaceutical legislation in the history of the EU, blamed for increasing the costs of pan-European trial costs and adding to the burden of red tape. Having charted the drop in multi-national clinical trials conducted in Europe since 2007, the Commission's Health Directorate (DG Sanco) finally conceded the law has played a part in the decline, at a gathering of MEPs, academics, patient associations and industry at the European Parliament in December 2011. Figures presented by the head of the pharmaceuticals unit in at DG Sanco, Patricia Brunko, showed the number of trials fell from 5028 in 2007 to 3490 in 2011. This 30% drop "could well be due to the current approach of the Directive" she said.More information.