As we enter the holiday season and look forward to the arrival of 2024, we extend our heartfelt greetings to each and every one of you for wonderful holidays spent with your loved ones and a happy New Year. I am optimistic that 2024 will bring exciting opportunities and promising ventures for Cancer Core Europe.
Reflecting on the past year, I am thrilled to share our collective achievements. In 2023, we successfully hosted another enriching Summer School in Translational Cancer Research in Algarve (Portugal) that brought together trainees from all CCE centres and around the world to engage in scientific discussions and attend a comprehensive program of lectures and seminars. Promoted by the Education & Training pillar, we also offered the 4th TRYTRAC workshop with a focus on applied immuno-oncology, a remarkable workshop on RECIST and Radiomics, and hosted six invited lectures by researchers from Karolinska Institutet, DKFZ-NCT, Vall d´Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori (INT), and the Gustave Roussy Insitute.
The CCE Basket of Baskets (BoB) trial, a multicentre study to evaluate targeted agents in molecularly selected populations with advanced solid tumors, also had a successful year, with more pharmaceutical companies interested in funding the project, the addition of a new treatment arm to Module 1, and the opening of a third module.
On the other hand, CCE_DART a project that strives to incorporate innovative and more effective methodologies into the design, execution, and analysis of academic clinical trials, using the BoB trial as the use case, has during 2023 successfully completed WP11, which included the pharmacoeconomic study of basket studies. Additionally, iENTER and iPARTICIPATE portals have been launched, providing specific information on Basket trials for patients with the objective of involving and empower them more in the clinical research. The cBioportal interface for MTBP has been developed, and the CRF has been connected with iTRACKER and iBANK. Finally, we have initiated the Radiomics study, PROs study, and RELEVANCE study.
Additionally, CCE was represented at the recent ESMO Annual Congress in Madrid, where we actively engaged with potential collaborators for launching new clinical studies. Lastly, the new pillar on “Early Detection and Prevention” was created with the expectation that it will expand the capabilities and impact of our research activities as a consortium.
These accomplishments stand as a testament to our shared dedication and collaborative work. I am immensely grateful and proud of what we achieved in 2023, and I eagerly await the opportunities and milestones that 2024 holds for us.
May the holiday season bring you moments of warmth and joy.
Happy Holidays and all the best for the New Year!
Warm regards,
Josep
