Welcome to OECI Oncology Days 2017
For the first time, the annual convention of the Directors of the European Cancer Institutes is taking place in Brno, hosted by the Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute and the Institute of Biostatistics and Analyses of the Masaryk University. I would like to thank our hosts in Brno, on behalf of all our Members, for the generous support given to this event and for the great opportunity to learn more about the Czech Republic’s approach to a more harmonised organisation of cancer care through the creation of a network at a regional level.
The OECI Oncology Days debut was in Genoa in 2008, almost 10 years of an event, which has become a “not-to-be missed” gathering of the main European actors in cancer care.
Our expertise in certification of quality, promoted by means of our Accreditation and Designation Programme, is increasingly well-established and has been called upon recently, in order to help define quality criteria within the Joint Action on Rare Cancers, which operates in synergy with
the set-up of European Networks of Reference Centres for Rare Cancers.
During the past year, we have continued to build upon our strategic alliance with the European Cancer Patient Coalition, and the first joint action on “Engaging Patients in Clinical Research” has been presented and launched at ECCO 2017 in Amsterdam.
The increase in survivorship has also reinforced the issue of patient rights to access a dignified
and active life in society post illness, on top of the best options for cure and therapeutic
solutions. We look forward to collaborating with you and our Patient counterpart, the ECPC,
and to sharing with you, in the near future, the outcomes of our joint pilot projects, which will
be actively undertaken by the OECI’s new working group: Collaboration for Good Practices with
Patients.
The ongoing restructuring of the Supportive and Palliative Care Working Group is also another
OECI way of involving our hospitals in the enormous increase of cancer prevalence that poses
crucial problems for the oncologists and to the health systems, unable to face the increasing
cost of care.
For the above reasons, and upon the suggestion of our Brno colleagues, who are deeply involved in this topic, we decided to focus the 2017 Scientific Conference on “Rising cancer prevalence as emerging challenge for oncologists”, debating the growing issue, outcomes opportunities, and how to address specific needs.
The 2017 Pathology Day will be debating on how to standardise methods for testing circulating
cell free DNA; a huge potential not only for research but also for clinical diagnostics, especially
in recurrent tumours. A preliminary technical, common protocol for plasma ccfDNA will be
presented to reach a consensus amongst OECI experts and to adopt specific standards in a
reproducible manner to be used for clinical investigations through European cancer centres.
The 2017 Oncology Days marks the 39th convening of the Directors of European Cancer
Centres, members of OECI. This is a solid example of the dedication and efforts made by the
OECI and its Members in the promotion of sustainable progress, with the aim of improving the
level of care, by giving patients, from all walks of life, equal access to the best quality in cancer care.
The OECI is honored to be in Brno, in the heart of Europe, at the Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, one
of the founders of our Organisation.
