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Keywords | Oncology | anticancer therapy | clinical pharmacology | uncommon cancer | sarcomas |<br />
GIST | children | adults |<br />
CONTICANET<br />
Connective Tissue <strong>Cancer</strong>s’ Network<br />
to integrate the European Experience<br />
in Adults and Children<br />
Summary<br />
Connective tissue cancers, and more specifically sarcomas,<br />
GIST, aggressive fibromatosis and hamartomas, are uncommon<br />
cancers with an incidence below 2/100 000 per year in<br />
the EU aff ecting children, young adults and adults. At a national<br />
level, the limited number of cases (about 7/10 000 in Europe<br />
each year) does not allow Europe to have a critical mass of<br />
researchers and the supporting environment to progress in<br />
the disease understanding and management and to have<br />
access to new drugs and treatments. Europe, however, has<br />
proven with research made on GIST, through the EORTC-STBSG<br />
group, that gathering workforces can achieve significant<br />
progress. CONTICANET will create the critical mass of key<br />
stakeholders to overcome the current difficulties in terms of<br />
lack of data and data fragmentation, mobility of researchers,<br />
heterogeneity of methodologies and legislations.<br />
CONTICANET will:<br />
• start by providing the required environment for developing<br />
joint research activities through the development of<br />
standard operating procedures (SOP), distributed databases,<br />
tissue banks and harmonisation of ongoing and<br />
previous research projects, to promote complementarity<br />
and perform parallel research programmes according to<br />
similar SOPs;<br />
• provide the infrastructure to test several drug candidates<br />
and perform European wide exploratory clinical trials while<br />
implementing a federated research policy;<br />
• further lead to an integrated sustainable structure – a European<br />
research foundation – able to support integrated<br />
research actions and make new treatments available.<br />
Involving 20 partners – major comprehensive cancer centres,<br />
academia and private companies – over a period of<br />
five years, CONTICANET will gather the critical mass of<br />
resources and knowledge in the understanding, diagnosis<br />
and clinical management of connective tissue cancers, at<br />
the same time opening new therapeutic options.<br />
CONTICANET will spread excellence in several directions:<br />
enlarging the network with other academic and private organisations;<br />
developing working sessions with EMEA, health<br />
authorities and insurances in order to optimise the availability<br />
of new therapeutic options; supporting and collaborating with<br />
patients through advocacy groups and cancer leagues.<br />
Problem<br />
Scientifi c challenges<br />
• Connective tissue tumours: a collection of rare tumours.<br />
• Molecular characterisation is routine for few tumours, in<br />
progress for other tumours but unknown for most<br />
tumours.<br />
• There is a need for harmonisation of research activities<br />
in the following fi elds:<br />
• molecular characterisation of these tumours,<br />
• functional genomics.<br />
• Pharmacology: target characterisation and validation.<br />
• Promotion of clinical and translational research.<br />
• Improvement of medical practices.<br />
• Education of the physicians for CPGs.<br />
• Epidemiology and medical economics.<br />
Medical challenges<br />
• Demonstrated ‘proof of concept’ for several connective<br />
tissue subtypes.<br />
• Targeted oncogene treatments are active treatments.<br />
• Harmonisation of research activities, medical practices<br />
and education in a context where:<br />
• patients are not always treated in specialised centres;<br />
• most patients are not treated according to CPGs;<br />
• structured clinical research and TR in large centres<br />
and network.<br />
• Medical practices do not follow clinical practice guidelines<br />
for more than 60 % of patients in most western countries<br />
so there is a need for education of physician and patients.<br />
Economical challenges<br />
Health:<br />
Inappropriate management results in increased costs.<br />
Survival and functional disabilities in adults and children.<br />
Identifi cation of novel targets and treatment:<br />
Generate intellectual propriety.<br />
Commercialisation of new agents.<br />
Transfer towards industrial partners:<br />
Perform rapid proof of concept clinical trials.<br />
Generate synergy between European academia and industry.<br />
Political challenges<br />
Strengthen and harmonise European research in<br />
these rare tumours:<br />
Establish the network as the worldwide leading force for<br />
research in these rare tumours.<br />
Promote academic and industrial collaborations:<br />
Generate a network with integrated joint research progra m mes.<br />
Include new partners from academia, industry and patients<br />
advocacy groups.<br />
Ensure the long term viability of the network.<br />
BIOLOGY 23