Professor Michael Baumann proudly handed the presidency of ECCO – the European Cancer Organisation, to Professor Cornelis van de Velde on 1 January, 2012.

The new President reflected on the past two years, where considerable steps have been taken to guide ECCO into the future: “Michael Baumann holds an impressive record of service throughout his tenure as President of ECCO.

He has worked tirelessly towards advancing the multidisciplinary and multi-professional approach to oncology, proven to be of significant benefit for research, treatment and cancer care. He has done this through successfully extending the scientific excellence of the ECCO-ESMO-ESTRO congress, as well as enhancing ECCO’s strategic policy positioning, whilst simultaneously consolidating and enhancing the ECCO community.

He is a tough act to follow and I want to thank him for setting such tangible outcomes to build upon,” said Professor van de Velde.

According to Professor Baumann “The Board and I are excited about Cornelis’s role as president, as he has an extensive background and experience in both oncology healthcare and cancer group management.  His superlative academic and professional experience, including former presidency of the European Society for Surgical Oncology (ESSO) from 2008 to 2010, combined with his broad knowledge of the oncology arena will serve ECCO’s members well.

He is someone who, by building upon the achievements of past presidents, will advance the mission of ECCO, in service to its members, the profession of oncology and cancer sufferers.  I know that Cornelius is not only committed to connecting all stakeholders who share a vision toward advancing cancer care, but that he can articulate the ECCO philosophy that every cancer patient deserves the best, most persuasively.”

ECCO exists to uphold the right of all European cancer patients to the best possible treatment and care, promoting interaction between all organisations involved in cancer research, education, treatment and care at European level.

However, the ageing world population is of significant concern. Cancer is the second most frequent cause of death in developed countries. And 50 per cent of the world’s cancer burden, in terms of both numbers of cases and deaths, occurs in developing countries. This rate of occurrence is set to increase by 30 per cent by 2030. For oncology, this means an increase in elderly patients as well as growing occurrence of comorbities.

Today, multidisciplinarity is increasingly carried out in daily clinical practice. For Prof Baumann, “the move to multidisciplinary trials and collaborative discussion of the best data is the next step for the better patient treatment and care.”  

All existing and future patients must have fair access to quality care and to innovation. This can only be guaranteed by multidisciplinarity, transparent and evidence-based analysis, as well as policy development. This is at the heart of all ECCO’s efforts to ensure that every cancer patient receives the best.       

Professor van de Velde is looking to the future: “ECCO is mindful of such changes. We are already discussing internally and engaging in external dialogue with many stakeholders to understand how this evolving landscape might impact the implementation of our mission.

That understanding will enable us to help all stakeholders grasp the immense implications and major challenges facing oncology professionals and specialists in treating an increasingly ageing and diverse population, especially in an era of targeted therapies. It will also enhance our next European Cancer Congress in Amsterdam 2013, to which I will dedicate great efforts.

Times are changing and I see ECCO’s role as providing continued guidance and direction to our member organisations, keeping the focus on the security and positive results and rewards that change will bring.”

Source: The European CanCer Organisation