On March, 26th, 2010, The International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research (INCTR) will celebrate its 10th Anniversary. INCTR is a non-profit organization based in Brussels whose goal is to improve the care of patients with cancer by educating health professionals and training more cancer researchers in developing countries.

This year, the World Health Organization (WHO) projects that cancer will overtake ischemic heart disease as the leading cause of death in the world. Already, more than 70% of global cancer deaths occur in low and middle income countries and the cancer burden is rapidly increasing in these countries as infectious diseases are overcome and people live longer and take on more western lifestyles, especially relating to smoking and diet.

Given this impending crisis, INCTR has invited representatives from the WHO, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the International Union against Cancer (UICC) and the National Cancer Institute, USA, (NCI) as well as INCTR branches directors from Asia, Latin America, Africa, Europe and North America, to discuss its future strategies and enhance global cooperation in cancer control. On this special occasion, Professor Guy de Thé, INCTR Vice President and Honorary Professor, Institut Pasteur, Paris, will receive an award for a lifetime of achievements in understanding virus-associated cancers and for his role in the development of the INCTR network.

Since a major component of INCTR’s work is the education of a broad range of health professionals, one of INCTR’s major goals for 2010 is to increase the size of its faculty, and to develop more partnerships with academic centers in Belgium and beyond. One of the several planned working group sessions will be devoted to this topic.

Source: www.inctr.org