I’m really proud and honored to inform you that Dr. Jean-Yves Blay (Centre Léon Bérard à Lyon, France) has just been appointed as the new President of the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) for three years, thus succeeding to Dr. Martine Piccart from Belgium.
As a brief historical note, the EORTC was founded in 1962 as an international organization by eminent oncologists working in the European and Swiss cancer research institutes. Its very first name was “GECA” for “Groupe Européen de Chimiothérapie Anticancéreuse” (Anticancer Chemotherapy European Group) and then became the EORTC in 1968.
The main missions of the EORTC are (Source: www.eortc.be):
● To develop, conduct, coordinate, and stimulate translational and clinical research in Europe to improve the management of cancer and related problems by increasing survival but also patient quality of life.
● To promote multidisciplinary cancer research in Europe and collaborate with leading biomedical research organizations around the world in order to develop innovative and efficient drugs.
● To facilitate the passage of experimental discoveries into state-of-the-art treatments by keeping to a minimum the time lapse between the discovery of new anti-cancer agents and the implementation of their therapeutic benefit for patients with cancer.
● To improve the standards of cancer treatment in Europe, through the evaluation of innovative drugs and new regimens.
● To establish more effective therapeutic strategies, using drugs already commercially available, or surgery and radiotherapy.
Dr. Jean-Yves Blay is the fifteenth President of the EORTC and the third French one to be appointed since 1962. He is also the President of the French Sarcoma Group (GSF-GETO) and Coordinator of the European Network of Excellence “CONTICANET”, dedicated to connective tissue cancers.
Famous for his human values, strong will and motivation, Dr. Jean-Yves Blay is a key figure in the world of oncology. Therefore, there is no doubt his presidency will leave an indelible imprint in the domain of European cancer research and more specifically in the field of rare cancers.
We send him all our wishes of success in these new responsibilities.