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• This ESMO Clinical Practice Guideline provides key recommendations on the management of localised colon cancer. • Authorship includes a multidisciplinary group of experts from different institutions and countries in Europe and abroad. • Diagnostic work-up is reviewed. • Key treatment recommendations are included in each section. • Follow-up indications are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer Core Europe brings together the expertise, resources, and interests of seven leading cancer institutes committed to leveraging collective innovation and collaboration in precision oncology. Through targeted efforts addressing key medical challenges in cancer and partnerships with multiple stakeholders, the consortium seeks to advance cancer research and enhance equitable patient care., (©2024 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Introduction: The OligoMetastatic Esophagogastric Cancer (OMEC) project aims to provide clinical practice guidelines for the definition, diagnosis, and treatment of esophagogastric oligometastatic disease (OMD)., Methods: Guidelines were developed according to AGREE II and GRADE principles. Guidelines were based on a systematic review (OMEC-1), clinical case discussions (OMEC-2), and a Delphi consensus study (OMEC-3) by 49 European expert centers for esophagogastric cancer. OMEC identified patients for whom the term OMD is considered or could be considered. Disease-free interval (DFI) was defined as the time between primary tumor treatment and detection of OMD., Results: Moderate to high quality of evidence was found (i.e. 1 randomized and 4 non-randomized phase II trials) resulting in moderate recommendations. OMD is considered in esophagogastric cancer patients with 1 organ with ≤ 3 metastases or 1 involved extra-regional lymph node station. In addition, OMD continues to be considered in patients with OMD without progression in number of metastases after systemic therapy. 18 F-FDG PET/CT imaging is recommended for baseline staging and for restaging after systemic therapy when local treatment is considered. For patients with synchronous OMD or metachronous OMD and a DFI ≤ 2 years, recommended treatment consists of systemic therapy followed by restaging to assess suitability for local treatment. For patients with metachronous OMD and DFI > 2 years, upfront local treatment is additionally recommended., Discussion: These multidisciplinary European clinical practice guidelines for the uniform definition, diagnosis and treatment of esophagogastric OMD can be used to standardize inclusion criteria in future clinical trials and to reduce variation in treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Dr. van Laarhoven reports a consultant or advisory role: Amphera, Anocca, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Beigene, Boehringer, Daiichy-Sankyo, Dragonfly, MSD, Myeloid, Servier; Research funding, medication supply, and/or other research support: Auristone, Incyte, Merck, ORCA, Servier; Speaker role: Astellas, Beigene, Benecke, BMS, Daiichy-Sankyo, JAAP, Medtalks, Novartis, Springer, Travel Congress Management B.V. Dr. Muijs reports institutional grants from: Elekta, IBA, RaySearch, Siemens, Mirada, Bergoz Instrumentation and Medical Data Works, KWF, all outside the submitted work. Dr. van Hillegersberg has a consulting and advisory role at Intuitive Surgical, Medtronic, Olympus and J&J Ethicon. Dr. de Manzoni reports personal fees from Lilly, outside the submitted work. Dr. Gani reports travel grants from Elekta and departmental research cooperation, outside the submitted work. Dr. Smyth is supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Oxford (the views expressed in this Article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Health Service, the NIHR, or the Department of Health) and resports personal fees/grants from: Astra Zeneca, Beigene, BMS, Amal Therapeutics, Amgen, Daiichi Sankyo, Merck, Servier, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and Zymeworks, all outside the submitted work. Dr. Haj Mohammad reports consulation fees from: Merck, BMS, Eli Lilly, Astra Zeneca, and research funding from Servier, all outside the submitted work. Dr. Adenis reports grants and personal fees from Bayer, personal fees and non-financial support from MSD, personal fees from: BMS, Novartis, Pierre-Fabre, non-financial support from Servier, grants from Sanofi, all outside the submitted work. Dr. Lordick reports grants from: BMS and Gilead, personal fees from: Amgen, Astellas, Bayer, BMS, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Elsevier, Incyte, Merck, MSD, Roche, Servier, all outside the submitted work. Dr. Slingerland reports an advisory role at BMS and Lilly. Dr. van Berge Henegouwen received researcher-initiated grant from Stryker and is consultant for Alesi Surgical, Johnson and Johnson, Medtronic, BBraun and Viatris. Dr Nilsson reports advisory roles for BMS and Medtronic. Dr. Tabernero reports personal financial interest in form of scientific consultancy role for Array Biopharma, AstraZeneca, Avvinity, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chugai, Daiichi Sankyo, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Genentech Inc, HalioDX SAS, Hutchison MediPharma International, Ikena Oncology, IQVIA, Lilly, Menarini, Merck Serono, Merus, MSD, Mirati, Neophore, Novartis, Orion Biotechnology, Peptomyc, Pfizer, Pierre Fabre, Samsung Bioepis, Sanofi, Seattle Genetics, Servier, Taiho, Tessa Therapeutics and TheraMyc; and also educational collaboration with Imedex, Medscape Education, MJH Life Sciences, PeerView Institute for Medical Education and Physicians Education Resource (PER). Dr. Tabernero declares institutional financial interest in form of financial support for clinical trials or contracted research for Amgen Inc, Array Biopharma Inc, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, BeiGene, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Debiopharm International SA, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Genentech Inc, HalioDX SAS, Hutchison MediPharma International, Janssen-Cilag SA, MedImmune, Menarini, Merck Health KGAA, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Merus NV, Mirati, Novartis Farmacéutica SA, Pfizer, Pharma Mar, Sanofi Aventis Recherche & Développement, Servier, Taiho Pharma USA Inc, Spanish Association Against Cancer Scientific Foundation and Cancer Research UK. Dr. Nieuwenhuijzen reports advisory/speaker roles from Medtronic and Lilly. All remaining authors have declared no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

"UNCAN.eu" refers to a collective European effort seeking to enable a leap forward in our understanding of cancer. This initiative, which includes the creation of a European cancer research data hub, will pave the way to new advances in cancer care. Starting on September 1, 2022, a 15-month coordination and support action will generate a blueprint for UNCAN.eu. Here, we summarize the cancer research issues that the blueprint will propose to tackle at the European level., (©2022 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Background: The omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of SARS-CoV-2 is highly transmissible and escapes vaccine-induced immunity. We aimed to describe outcomes due to COVID-19 during the omicron outbreak compared with the prevaccination period and alpha (B.1.1.7) and delta (B.1.617.2) waves in patients with cancer in Europe., Methods: In this retrospective analysis of the multicentre OnCovid Registry study, we recruited patients aged 18 years or older with laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, who had a history of solid or haematological malignancy that was either active or in remission. Patient were recruited from 37 oncology centres from UK, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, and Germany. Participants were followed up from COVID-19 diagnosis until death or loss to follow-up, while being treated as per standard of care. For this analysis, we excluded data from centres that did not actively enter new data after March 1, 2021 (in France, Germany, and Belgium). We compared measures of COVID-19 morbidity, which were complications from COVID-19, hospitalisation due to COVID-19, and requirement of supplemental oxygen and COVID-19-specific therapies, and COVID-19 mortality across three time periods designated as the prevaccination (Feb 27 to Nov 30, 2020), alpha-delta (Dec 1, 2020, to Dec 14, 2021), and omicron (Dec 15, 2021, to Jan 31, 2022) phases. We assessed all-cause case-fatality rates at 14 days and 28 days after diagnosis of COVID-19 overall and in unvaccinated and fully vaccinated patients and in those who received a booster dose, after adjusting for country of origin, sex, age, comorbidities, tumour type, stage, and status, and receipt of systemic anti-cancer therapy. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04393974, and is ongoing., Findings: As of Feb 4, 2022 (database lock), the registry included 3820 patients who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 between Feb 27, 2020, and Jan 31, 2022. 3473 patients were eligible for inclusion (1640 [47·4%] were women and 1822 [52·6%] were men, with a median age of 68 years [IQR 57-77]). 2033 (58·5%) of 3473 were diagnosed during the prevaccination phase, 1075 (31·0%) during the alpha-delta phase, and 365 (10·5%) during the omicron phase. Among patients diagnosed during the omicron phase, 113 (33·3%) of 339 were fully vaccinated and 165 (48·7%) were boosted, whereas among those diagnosed during the alpha-delta phase, 152 (16·6%) of 915 were fully vaccinated and 21 (2·3%) were boosted. Compared with patients diagnosed during the prevaccination period, those who were diagnosed during the omicron phase had lower case-fatality rates at 14 days (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0·32 [95% CI 0·19-0·61) and 28 days (0·34 [0·16-0·79]), complications due to COVID-19 (0·26 [0·17-0·46]), and hospitalisation due to COVID-19 (0·17 [0·09-0·32]), and had less requirements for COVID-19-specific therapy (0·22 [0·15-0·34]) and oxygen therapy (0·24 [0·14-0·43]) than did those diagnosed during the alpha-delta phase. Unvaccinated patients diagnosed during the omicron phase had similar crude case-fatality rates at 14 days (ten [25%] of 40 patients vs 114 [17%] of 656) and at 28 days (11 [27%] of 40 vs 184 [28%] of 656) and similar rates of hospitalisation due to COVID-19 (18 [43%] of 42 vs 266 [41%] of 652) and complications from COVID-19 (13 [31%] of 42 vs 237 [36%] of 659) as those diagnosed during the alpha-delta phase., Interpretation: Despite time-dependent improvements in outcomes reported in the omicron phase compared with the earlier phases of the pandemic, patients with cancer remain highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 if they are not vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. Our findings support universal vaccination of patients with cancer as a protective measure against morbidity and mortality from COVID-19., Funding: National Institute for Health and Care Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre and the Cancer Treatment and Research Trust., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests DJP has received lecture fees from ViiV Healthcare, Bayer Healthcare, BMS, Roche, Eisai, and Falk Foundation; travel expenses from BMS and Bayer Healthcare; consulting fees for Mina Therapeutics, Eisai, Roche, DaVolterra, and Astra Zeneca; and research funding (to their institution) from MSD and BMS. MLa has acted as consultant for Roche, Novartis, Lilly, AstraZeneca, Exact Sciences, MSD, Pfizer, Seagen, and Gilead; and has received speaker honoraria from Roche, Novartis, Lilly, Pfizer, Takeda, Ipsen, Libbs, Knight, and Sandoz. FM has received consulting fees from Eli Lilly, MSD, Takeda, and Roche; and travel support from Sanofi. SP reported that their spouse is employed by AstraZeneca. ASa has received consulting fees from Arqule, Sanofi, and Incyte; speaker's fees from Takeda, BMS, Roche, AbbVie, Amgen, Celgene, Servier, Gilead, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Arqule, Eli Lilly, Sandoz, Eisai, Novartis, Bayer, and MSD; and participation on data monitoring committees for BMS, Servier, Gilead, Pfizer, Eisai, Bayer, and MSD. FG has received consulting fees from Novocure, BMS, PharmaMar, and Novartis; speaker's fees from Novocure; travel support from MSD, Novocure, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, PharmaMar, Novartis, and Pierre Fabre; and participation on a data safety monitoring board for MSD, BMS, PharmaMar and Novartis. JH has a leadership role with Blood Cancer UK. NS-G has received speakers' fees from Amgen. GG has received consulting fees or had an advisory role for Janssen, AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Roche, Incyte, and BeiGene, and reported speaker fees from Janssen and AbbVie. LRi has received consulting fees from Taiho Oncology, Servier, Amgen, ArQule, AstraZeneca, Basilea, Bayer, BMS, Celgene, Eisai, Exelixis, Genenta, Hengrui, Incyte, Ipsen, IQVIA, Lilly, MSD, Nerviano Medical Sciences, Roche, Sanofi, and Zymeworks; lecture fees from AbbVie, Amgen, Bayer, Eisai, Gilead, Incyte, Ipsen, Lilly, Merck Serono, Roche, and Sanofi; travel expenses from Ipsen; and institutional research funding from Agios, ARMO BioSciences, AstraZeneca, BeiGene, Eisai, Exelixis, Fibrogen, Incyte, Ipsen, Lilly, MSD, Nerviano Medical Sciences, Roche, and Zymeworks. JT reports consulting fees from Array Biopharma, AstraZeneca, Avvinity, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chugai, Daiichi Sankyo, F Hoffmann-La Roche, Genentech, HalioDX SAS, Hutchison MediPharma International, Ikena Oncology, Inspirna, IQVIA, Lilly, Menarini, Merck Serono, Merus, MSD, Mirati, Neophore, Novartis, Ona Therapeutics, Orion Biotechnology, Peptomyc, Pfizer, Pierre Fabre, Samsung Bioepis, Sanofi, Seattle Genetics, Scandion Oncology, Servier, Sotio Biotech, Taiho, Tessa Therapeutics, and TheraMyc; speaker's fees from Imedex, Medscape Education, MJH Life Sciences, PeerView Institute for Medical Education, and Physicians Education Resource; and institutional research support from Amgen, Array Biopharma, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, BeiGene, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Debiopharm International, F Hoffmann-La Roche, Genentech, HalioDX, Hutchison MediPharma International, Janssen-Cilag, MedImmune, Menarini, Merck Health, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Merus NV, Mirati, Novartis Farmacéutica, Pfizer, Pharma Mar, Sanofi Aventis Recherche & Développement, Servier, Taiho Pharma USA, Spanish Association Against Cancer Scientific Foundation, and Cancer Research UK. MB has received speakers' fee from Eisai pharma, Gilead Sciences, Merck, and ViiV; and has had leadership roles in the European AIDS Clinical Society, UNAIDS, WHO, and The European Hematology Association/ European Society of Medical Oncology. AC has received consulting fees from MSD, BMS, AstraZeneca, and Roche; and speakers' fee from AstraZeneca, MSD, Novartis, and Eisai. All other authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Key stakeholders from the cancer research continuum met in May 2021 at the European Cancer Research Summit in Porto to discuss priorities and specific action points required for the successful implementation of the European Cancer Mission and Europe's Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP). Speakers presented a unified view about the need to establish high-quality, networked infrastructures to decrease cancer incidence, increase the cure rate, improve patient's survival and quality of life, and deal with research and care inequalities across the European Union (EU). These infrastructures, featuring Comprehensive Cancer Centres (CCCs) as key components, will integrate care, prevention and research across the entire cancer continuum to support the development of personalized/precision cancer medicine in Europe. The three pillars of the recommended European infrastructures - namely translational research, clinical/prevention trials and outcomes research - were pondered at length. Speakers addressing the future needs of translational research focused on the prospects of multiomics assisted preclinical research, progress in Molecular and Digital Pathology, immunotherapy, liquid biopsy and science data. The clinical/prevention trial session presented the requirements for next-generation, multicentric trials entailing unified strategies for patient stratification, imaging, and biospecimen acquisition and storage. The third session highlighted the need for establishing outcomes research infrastructures to cover primary prevention, early detection, clinical effectiveness of innovations, health-related quality-of-life assessment, survivorship research and health economics. An important outcome of the Summit was the presentation of the Porto Declaration, which called for a collective and committed action throughout Europe to develop the cancer research infrastructures indispensable for fostering innovation and decreasing inequalities within and between member states. Moreover, the Summit guidelines will assist decision making in the context of a unique EU-wide cancer initiative that, if expertly implemented, will decrease the cancer death toll and improve the quality of life of those confronted with cancer, and this is carried out at an affordable cost., (© 2021 The Authors. Molecular Oncology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Federation of European Biochemical Societies.)

Background: Despite high contagiousness and rapid spread, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to heterogeneous outcomes across affected nations. Within Europe (EU), the United Kingdom (UK) is the most severely affected country, with a death toll in excess of 100,000 as of January 2021. We aimed to compare the national impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the risk of death in UK patients with cancer versus those in continental EU., Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of the OnCovid study database, a European registry of patients with cancer consecutively diagnosed with COVID-19 in 27 centres from 27th February to 10th September 2020. We analysed case fatality rates and risk of death at 30 days and 6 months stratified by region of origin (UK versus EU). We compared patient characteristics at baseline including oncological and COVID-19-specific therapy across UK and EU cohorts and evaluated the association of these factors with the risk of adverse outcomes in multivariable Cox regression models., Findings: Compared with EU (n = 924), UK patients (n = 468) were characterised by higher case fatality rates (40.38% versus 26.5%, p < 0.0001) and higher risk of death at 30 days (hazard ratio [HR], 1.64 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.36-1.99]) and 6 months after COVID-19 diagnosis (47.64% versus 33.33%; p < 0.0001; HR, 1.59 [95% CI, 1.33-1.88]). UK patients were more often men, were of older age and have more comorbidities than EU counterparts (p < 0.01). Receipt of anticancer therapy was lower in UK than in EU patients (p < 0.001). Despite equal proportions of complicated COVID-19, rates of intensive care admission and use of mechanical ventilation, UK patients with cancer were less likely to receive anti-COVID-19 therapies including corticosteroids, antivirals and interleukin-6 antagonists (p < 0.0001). Multivariable analyses adjusted for imbalanced prognostic factors confirmed the UK cohort to be characterised by worse risk of death at 30 days and 6 months, independent of the patient's age, gender, tumour stage and status; number of comorbidities; COVID-19 severity and receipt of anticancer and anti-COVID-19 therapy. Rates of permanent cessation of anticancer therapy after COVID-19 were similar in the UK and EU cohorts., Interpretation: UK patients with cancer have been more severely impacted by the unfolding of the COVID-19 pandemic despite societal risk mitigation factors and rapid deferral of anticancer therapy. The increased frailty of UK patients with cancer highlights high-risk groups that should be prioritised for anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Continued evaluation of long-term outcomes is warranted., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement D.J.P. received lecture fees from ViiV Healthcare and Bayer Healthcare, travel expenses from BMS and Bayer Healthcare; consulting fees for MiNA Therapeutics, EISAI, Roche and AstraZeneca and research funding (to the institution) from MSD and BMS. A.P. has declared personal honoraria from Pfizer, Roche, MSD Oncology, Eli Lilly and Daiichi Sankyo; travel, accommodations and expenses paid by Daiichi Sankyo; research funding from Roche and Novartis and a consulting/advisory role for NanoString Technologies, Amgen, Roche, Novartis, Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb. T.N-D. has declared a consulting/advisory role for Amgen, Bayer, AstraZeneca, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Otsuka, Pfizer, Roche and Takeda; speaker fees from AstraZeneca, MSD, Roche, Takeda and travel, accommodations and expenses paid by AstraZenca, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Lilly, MSD, Otsuka, Roche and Takeda. J.B. has declared a consulting/advisory role for MSD and AstraZeneca. PPS has declared a consulting/advisory role for Sanofi and AbbVie. A.P. has declared a consulting/advisory role for Takeda and Sanofi. MP has declared a consulting/advisory role for Gilead and Bayer. A.G. has declared a consulting/advisory role for Roche, MSD, Eli Lilly, Pierre Fabre, EISAI and Daiichi Sankyo; is on the speaker's bureau for Eisai, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Roche, Teva, Gentili, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Celgene and Daiichi Sankyo and declared research funds from EISAI, Eli Lilly and Roche. C.M.-V. has received travel grants and other honoraria from BMS, MSD, Novartis and Roche. L.R. received consulting fees from Amgen, ArQule, AstraZeneca, Basilea, Bayer, BMS, Celgene, Eisai, Exelixis, Genenta, Hengrui, Incyte, Ipsen, IQVIA, Lilly, MSD, Nerviano Medical Sciences, Roche, Sanofi and Zymeworks; lecture fees from AbbVie, Amgen, Bayer, Eisai, Gilead, Incyte, Ipsen, Lilly, Merck Serono, Roche and Sanofi; travel expenses from Ipsen and institutional research funding from Agios, ARMO BioSciences, AstraZeneca, BeiGene, Eisai, Exelixis, FibroGen, Incyte, Ipsen, Lilly, MSD, Nerviano Medical Sciences, Roche and Zymeworks. J.T. reports personal financial interest in form of a scientific consultancy role for Array BioPharma, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chugai, Daiichi Sankyo, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Genentech, Inc., HalioDX SAS, Ikena Oncology, IQVIA, Imedex, Lilly, Menarini, Merck Serono, Merus, MSD, Mirati, NeoPhore, Novartis, Orion Biotechnology, Peptomyc, Pfizer, Pierre Fabre, Samsung Bioepis, Sanofi, Seattle Genetics, Servier, Taiho, Tessa Therapeutics and TheraMyc. A.C. received consulting fees from MSD, BMS, AstraZeneca, Roche and speakers' fee from AstraZeneca, MSD, Novartis and Astellas. All the remaining authors have declared no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We established an international consortium to review and discuss relevant clinical evidence in order to develop expert consensus statements related to cancer management during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-related disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The steering committee prepared 10 working packages addressing significant clinical questions from diagnosis to surgery. During a virtual consensus meeting of 62 global experts and one patient advocate, led by the European Society for Medical Oncology, statements were discussed, amended and voted upon. When consensus could not be reached, the panel revised statements until a consensus was reached. Overall, the expert panel agreed on 28 consensus statements that can be used to overcome many of the clinical and technical areas of uncertainty ranging from diagnosis to therapeutic planning and treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic., Competing Interests: Disclosures AA reports personal fees from BMS, AstraZeneca, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, Takeda and Boehringer outside the submitted work. LA reports other from BMS, MSD, Novartis, Amgen, Ipsen, Roche, Pfizer, Merck, AstraZeneca, Exelixis, Peloton Therapeutics and Corvus Pharmaceuticals outside the submitted work. PAA reports grants and personal fees from BMS, Roche Genentech and Array outside the submitted work; personal fees from MSD, Novartis, Merck Serono, Pierre Fabre, Incyte, MedImmune, AstraZeneca, Syndax, Sun Pharma, Sanofi, Idera, Ultimovacs, Sandoz, Immunocore, 4SC, Alkermes, Italfarmaco, and Eisai outside the submitted work; advisory role with Boehringer Ingelheim outside the submitted work. SB reports grants and personal fees from AstraZeneca/MedImmune and GSK/Tesaro outside the submitted work; personal fees from Amgen, Clovis, Mersana, Seattle Genetics, Genmabs, Merck Serono, Roche and Immunogen outside the submitted work. FB reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Bayer, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly Oncology, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Novartis, Merck, MSD, Pierre Fabre, Pfizer and Takeda outside the submitted work. CCa is a member of AstraZeneca's IMED External Science Panel, a member of Illumina's Scientific Advisory Board and a recipient of research grants (administered by the University of Cambridge) from Genentech, Roche, AstraZeneca and Servier. FC reports personal fees from Amgen, Astellas/Medivation, AstraZeneca, Celgene, Daiichi Sankyo, Eisai, GE Oncology, Genentech, GSK, MacroGenics, Medscape, MSD, Merus BV, Mylan, Mundipharma, Novartis, Pfizer, Pierre Fabre, prIME Oncology, Roche, Samsung Bioepis, Sanofi, Seattle Genetics and Teva outside the submitted work. AC reports grants, personal fees and other from Merck Serono, Servier, Roche, Lilly, Novartis, Takeda, Astellas and Bayer outside the submitted work; personal fees and other from Pierre Fabre, Amgen and Foundation Medicine outside the submitted work; grants from Genentech, FibroGen, Amcure, Sierra Oncology, AstraZeneca, MedImmune, BMS, MSD, AbbVie, Theradex, Array, Tesaro and Johnson & Johnson outside the submitted work. TKC reports grants, personal fees, non-financial support and other from BMS, Exelixis, Pfizer, (during the conduct of the study), Merck, BMS, Exelixis, AstraZeneca, Lilly, Eisai, Novartis, GSK, Lilly, Pfizer and EMD Serono outside the submitted work; has a patent null pending and stock ownership in Pionyr and Tempest; has received travel, accommodations and expenses in relation to consulting, advisory roles and clinical trials; medical writing and editorial assistance support may have been provided by communications companies funded by pharmaceutical companies; the institution (Dana Farber Cancer Institute) may have received additional independent funding from drug companies and/or royalties potentially involved in research around the subject matter; is a member of the NCCN kidney panel. MLKC reports personal fees from Janssen, Astellas, MSD Oncology, Bayer and Illumina outside the submitted work; personal fees and non-financial support from AstraZeneca and Varian outside the submitted work; non-financial support from PV Med and Decipher Biosciences outside the submitted work. CC reports personal fees from Pfizer, Novartis, Eli Lilly and Roche outside the submitted work. GC reports grants from Roche and Pfizer outside the submitted work; personal fees from Daiichi Sankyo, MSD and AstraZeneca outside the submitted work. EdA reports personal fees from Roche/Genentech, Novartis, Seattle Genetics and Zodiac; other from Roche/Genentech and GSK/Novartis; grants from AstraZeneca, GSK/Novartis, Roche/Genentech and Servier outside the submitted work. DDR reports advisory boards and grants from BMS, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Seattle Genetics, Roche/Genentech and Merck/Pfizer outside the submitted work; other from Philips and Olink outside the submitted work. EDV reports institutional financial support for her advisory role from Daiichi Sankyo, Merck, NSABP, Pfizer, Sanofi and Synthon outside the submitted work; institutional financial support for clinical trials or contracted research from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Chugai Pharma, CytomX Therapeutics, G1 Therapeutics, Genentech, Nordic Nanovector, Radius Health, Regeneron, Roche and Synthon outside the submitted work. RDe reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Roche, MSD, Eisai, Pfizer and Novartis outside the submitted work. RDz reports personal fees and non-financial support from Roche and AstraZeneca outside the submitted work; personal fees from Novartis, Pfizer, Takeda, Seattle Genetics, Foundation Medicine and MSD outside the submitted work. CF-F reports grants and other from AstraZeneca and Elekta outside the submitted work. EF reports personal fees from AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Blueprint Medicines, Boehringer Ingelheim, BMS, Eli Lilly, Guardant Health, Janssen, Medscape, Merck KGaA, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, prIME Oncology, Roche, Samsung, Takeda, TouchIME, GSK and Bayer outside the submitted work; grants from Grant For Oncology Innovation (GOI) and Fundación Merck Salud outside the submitted work; is an independent board member of Grifols. MG reports grants and personal fees from Eli Lilly, Otsuka Pharma, AstraZeneca, Novartis, BMS, Roche, Pfizer, Celgene, Incyte, Bayer, MSD, GSK, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Blueprint Medicine and Boehringer Ingelheim outside the submitted work; personal fees from Seattle Genetics, Daiichi Sankyo, Janssen, Inivata, Takeda and Sanofi Aventis outside the submitted work; grants from United Therapeutics Corporation, Merck KGaA, Turning Point, Ipsen, MedImmune, Exelisis, Tiziana Sciences, Clovis and Merck Serono outside the submitted work; non-financial support from MSD, Pfizer and Eli Lilly outside the submitted work. PG reports personal fees from Roche, from MSD, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer, AbbVie, Novartis, Lilly, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Blueprint Medicines, Takeda, Gilead and ROVI outside the submitted work. JH reports grants and other from BMS, MSD, Novartis, BioNTech and Amgen outside the submitted work; other from Achilles Therapeutics, GSK, Immunocore, Ipsen, Merck Serono, Molecular Partners, Pfizer, Roche/Genentech, Sanofi, Seattle Genetics, Third Rock Ventures and Vaximm outside the submitted work; personal fees from Neogene Therapeutics outside the submitted work. EH reports grants, non-financial support and other from Lilly, Roche/Genentech, Daiichi Sankyo, AstraZeneca, Eisai and Novartis outside the submitted work; grants and non-financial support from Tesaro, Radius Health, Clovis, Medivation and EMD Serono outside the submitted work; grants and other from Puma Biotechnology, Pfizer, Mersana, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cascadian Therapeutics, Silverback and Black Diamond outside the submitted work; grants from Hutchinson MediPharma, OncoMed, MedImmune, Stem CentRx, Curis, Verastem, Zymeworks, Syndax, Lycera, Rgenix, Millenium, TapImmune, BerGenBio, H3 Biomedicine, Acerta Pharma, Takeda, MacroGenics, AbbVie, Immunomedics, Fujifilm, eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Merus, NuCana, Regeneron, Leap Therapeutics, Taiho Pharmaceutical, EMD Serono, Syros, Clovis, CytomX, InventisBio, Deciphera, ArQule, Sermonix Pharmaceuticals, Sutro Biopharma, Zenith Epigenetics, Arvinas, Torque Therapeutics, Harpoon Therapeutics, Fochon Pharmaceuticals, Orinove, Molecular Templates, Unum Therapeutics, Aravive, Compugen, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, G1 Therapeutics, Karyopharm Therapeutics and Torque Therapeutics outside the submitted work; other from Nanostring; non-financial support from Amgen, Bayer, BMS, Genzyme, Helsinn Therapeutics, HERON, Lexicon, Merck, Roche, Sysmex, Guardant Heallth and Foundation Medicine outside the submitted work. PAJ reports grants and personal fees from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Daiichi Sankyo and Takeda Oncology outside the submitted work; personal fees from Pfizer, Roche/Genentech, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Chugai Pharmaceuticals, Araxes Pharma, Ignyta, Mirati Therapeutics, Novartis, Voronoi, SFJ Pharmaceuticals, Biocartis and LOXO Oncology outside the submitted work; grants from Puma and Astellas Pharmaceuticals outside the submitted work; receives post-marketing royalties from DFCI owned intellectual property on EGFR mutations licensed to Lab Corp. KJ reports personal fees from MSD, Merck (USA), Amgen, Helsinn, Riemser, Tesaro, Kreussler, Voluntis, Pfizer, Pomme-med, PharmaMar, ClinSol Research, Hexal, G1 Therapeutics, Shire, prIME Oncology, medupdate, art tempi and UpToDate outside the submitted work. RK reports grants and personal fees from MSD, Janssen, Astellas, Bayer and Pfizer outside the submitted work. SBK has received research funding from Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, Kyowa-Kirin Inc and DongKook Pharm Co.; has participated as a consultant in advisory boards for Novartis, AstraZeneca, Lilly, Enzychem, Dae Hwa Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., ISU Abxis and Daiichi-Sankyo. FL reports personal fees from Amgen, Astellas, AstraZeneca, BioNTech, Eli Lilly, Elsevier, Excerpta Medica, Imedex, Infomedica, medupdate, Merck Serono, MSD, Corvus, proMedicis, Springer Nature, streamedup!, Zymeworks, Bayer and Roche outside the submitted work; grants and personal fees from Iomedico and BMS outside the submitted work. JPM reports personal fees from Roche, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Innate, Merck Serono, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Janssen, Incyte, Cue Biopharma, ALX Oncology and Pfizer outside the submitted work; grants and personal fees from BMS outside the submitted work; other from Amgen, MSD, PsiOxus, Debio and Nanobiotix outside the submitted work. TSKM reports grants, personal fees and other from AstraZeneca outside the submitted work; grants and personal fees from Roche/Genentech, Pfizer, MSD, Novartis, SFJ Pharmaceutical and BMS outside the submitted work; grants from Clovis Oncology, XCovery and G1 Therapeutics Inc. outside the submitted work; non-financial support from GeneDecode outside the submitted work; personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, Lilly, Merck Serono, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Oncogenex, Celgene, Ignyta, Cirina, Fishawack Facilitate, Takeda Oncology, Janssen, OrigiMed, Hengrui Therapeutics, Sanofi-Aventis R&D, Yuhan Corporation, PrIME Oncology, Amoy Diagnostics, Loxo-Oncology, ACEA Pharma, Alpha Biopharma Co. Ltd., CStone Pharmaceuticals, IQVIA, MoreHealth, InMed Medical Communication, Virtus Medical Group, Biolidics Ltd., Bayer, Daiichi Sankyo, Incyte Corporation, Lunit Inc., Mirati Therapeutics Inc. and Gritstone Oncology Inc. outside the submitted work; other from Hutchison ChiMed, Sanomics, ASCO and CSCO outside the submitted work. AP reports honoraria for consulting, advisory role or lectures from AstraZeneca, Agilent/Dako, BMS, Eli Lilly, MSD and Roche Genentech. GP reports grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Merck outside the submitted work; grants and non-financial support from AstraZeneca outside the submitted work; grants and personal fees from Roche, BMS, MSD and Novartis outside the submitted work; grants from Amgen and Lilly outside the submitted work. SP has received educational grants, provided consultation, attended advisory boards and/or provided lectures for AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Biocartis, BioInvent, Blueprint Medicines, Boehringer Ingelheim, BMS, Clovis, Daiichi Sankyo, Debiopharm, Eli Lilly, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Foundation Medicine, Illumina, Janssen, MSD, Merck Serono, Merrimack, Novartis, PharmaMar, Pfizer, Regeneron, Sanofi, Seattle Genetics, Takeda and Vaccibody, from whom she has received honoraria (all fees to institution). MR reports personal fees from Amgen, AstraZeneca, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Lilly, Merck, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and Samsung Bioepis outside the submitted work. RSS reports attending advisory boards for VCN-BCN, Agendia, Guardant Health, Roche Diagnostics, Ferrer, Pfizer, Novartis, Ipsen, Amgen, Merck, Roche Pharma, Lilly and MSD; speaker's fees from Pfizer, Amgen, Novartis, Merck, MSD, AstraZeneca and Celgene; leadership role and stocks or ownership interest with Sace Medhealth. FS reports financial interests, honoraria for speaker, consultancy or advisory role, royalties and/or direct research funding from Tesaro, Helsinn, Vifor, MSD, Roche, Amgen, Pierre Fabre Oncology, Pfizer, Leo Pharma, Arrow BMS, Mylan and Mundi-Pharma outside of the submitted work. SS reports grants and personal fees from AstraZeneca outside the submitted work; grants from Varian Medical Systems and ViewRay Inc. outside the submitted work; personal fees from MSD and Celgene, outside the submitted work. ES reports personal fees from Astellas, AstraZeneca, BMS, Celgene, Five Prime Therapeutics, Gritstone Oncology, Merck, Servier and Zymeworks outside the submitted work. RS reports grants and personal fees from AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim outside the submitted work; personal fees from BMS, Eli Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Taiho Pharmaceutical, Takeda, Yuhan and Amgen outside the submitted work. JCS reports personal fees from Abbvie, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Blend Therapeutics, Boeringher Ingelheim, Cytomix, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Genmab, Guardiant Health, Inivata, Merck, Netcancer, Roche, Servier, PharmaMar and Tarveda outside the submitted work; was a full time employee of AstraZeneca from September 2017 to December 2019. FS reports unrestricted research grants from Celgene, Fresenius and Helsinn; participation in company-led clinical trials with Novartis; advisory boards for Helsinn, Mundipharma, Novartis, Fresenius and Kaiku Health. JT reports personal fees from Array Biopharma, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BeiGene, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chugai, Genentech Inc., Genmab A/S, Halozyme, Imugene Limited, Inflection Biosciences Limited, Ipsen, Kura Oncology, Lilly, MSD, Menarini, Merck Serono, Merrimack, Merus, Molecular Partners, Novartis, Peptomyc, Pfizer, Pharmacyclics, ProteoDesign SL, Rafael Pharmaceuticals, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Sanofi, SeaGen, Seattle Genetics, Servier, Symphogen, Taiho, VCN Biosciences, Biocartis, Foundation Medicine, HalioDX SAS and Roche Diagnostics outside the submitted work. EVC reports grants from Amgen, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, BMS, Celgene, Ipsen, Lilly, MSD, Merck KGaA, Novartis, Roche and Servier; advisory boards for Array, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Biocartis, BMS, Celgene, Daiichi, Halozyme, GSK, Pierre Fabre, Incyte, Ipsen, Lilly, MSD, Merck KGaA, Novartis, Pierre Fabre, Roche, Servier, Sirtex and Taiho outside the submitted work. PEvS reports IASLC board member; treasurer BACTS; external expert for AstraZeneca, MSD and Institut National du Cancer, France (institutional fees). GV reports grants from Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC), Ministry of Health and Istituto Nazionale Assicurazione Infortuni sul Lavoro outside the submitted work; honoraria from Ab Medica SpA, Medtronic and Verb Medical. JY reports personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Bayer, Roche/Genentech, Chugai Pharmaceutical, MSD, Pfizer, Novartis, BMS, Ono Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Merck Serono, Celgene, Yuhan Pharmaceuticals, Daiichi Sankyo, Hansoh Pharmaceuticals, Takeda Oncology, Blueprint Medicines and Amgen outside the submitted work. IFC, NIC, JYD, DDU, NG, RGJ, VG, UG, OAM, GM, RO, KP, CS, DSW, JS, DT and HvH have declared no significant conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 European Society for Medical Oncology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A comprehensive translational cancer research approach focused on personalized and precision medicine, and covering the entire cancer research-care-prevention continuum has the potential to achieve in 2030 a 10-year cancer-specific survival for 75% of patients diagnosed in European Union (EU) member states with a well-developed healthcare system. Concerted actions across this continuum that spans from basic and preclinical research through clinical and prevention research to outcomes research, along with the establishment of interconnected high-quality infrastructures for translational research, clinical and prevention trials and outcomes research, will ensure that science-driven and social innovations benefit patients and individuals at risk across the EU. European infrastructures involving comprehensive cancer centres (CCCs) and CCC-like entities will provide researchers with access to the required critical mass of patients, biological materials and technological resources and can bridge research with healthcare systems. Here, we prioritize research areas to ensure a balanced research portfolio and provide recommendations for achieving key targets. Meeting these targets will require harmonization of EU and national priorities and policies, improved research coordination at the national, regional and EU level and increasingly efficient and flexible funding mechanisms. Long-term support by the EU and commitment of Member States to specialized schemes are also needed for the establishment and sustainability of trans-border infrastructures and networks. In addition to effectively engaging policymakers, all relevant stakeholders within the entire continuum should consensually inform policy through evidence-based advice., (© 2020 The Authors. Published by FEBS Press and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Oxaliplatin and fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy administered over 6 months is the standard adjuvant regimen for patients with high-risk stage II or III colorectal cancer. However, the regimen is associated with cumulative toxicity, characterised by chronic and often irreversible neuropathy., Objectives: To assess the efficacy of 3-month versus 6-month adjuvant chemotherapy for colorectal cancer and to compare the toxicity, health-related quality of life and cost-effectiveness of the durations., Design: An international, randomised, open-label, non-inferiority, Phase III, parallel-group trial., Setting: A total of 244 oncology clinics from six countries: UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand., Participants: Adults aged ≥ 18 years who had undergone curative resection for high-risk stage II or III adenocarcinoma of the colon or rectum., Interventions: The adjuvant treatment regimen was either oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil or oxaliplatin and capecitabine, randomised to be administered over 3 or 6 months., Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcome was disease-free survival. Overall survival, adverse events, neuropathy and health-related quality of life were also assessed. The main cost categories were chemotherapy treatment and hospitalisation. Cost-effectiveness was assessed through incremental cost comparisons and quality-adjusted life-year gains between the options and was reported as net monetary benefit using a willingness-to-pay threshold of £30,000 per quality-adjusted life-year per patient., Results: Recruitment is closed. In total, 6088 patients were randomised (3044 per group) between 27 March 2008 and 29 November 2013, with 6065 included in the intention-to-treat analyses (3-month analysis, n  = 3035; 6-month analysis, n  = 3030). Follow-up for the primary analysis is complete. The 3-year disease-free survival rate in the 3-month treatment group was 76.7% (standard error 0.8%) and in the 6-month treatment group was 77.1% (standard error 0.8%), equating to a hazard ratio of 1.006 (95% confidence interval 0.909 to 1.114; p -value for non-inferiority = 0.012), confirming non-inferiority for 3-month adjuvant chemotherapy. Frequent adverse events (alopecia, anaemia, anorexia, diarrhoea, fatigue, hand-foot syndrome, mucositis, sensory neuropathy, neutropenia, pain, rash, altered taste, thrombocytopenia and watery eye) showed a significant increase in grade with 6-month duration; the greatest difference was for sensory neuropathy (grade ≥ 3 was 4% for 3-month vs.16% for 6-month duration), for which a higher rate of neuropathy was seen for the 6-month treatment group from month 4 to ≥ 5 years ( p  < 0.001). Quality-of-life scores were better in the 3-month treatment group over months 4-6. A cost-effectiveness analysis showed 3-month treatment to cost £4881 less over the 8-year analysis period, with an incremental net monetary benefit of £7246 per patient., Conclusions: The study achieved its primary end point, showing that 3-month oxaliplatin-containing adjuvant chemotherapy is non-inferior to 6 months of the same regimen; 3-month treatment showed a better safety profile and cost less. For future work, further follow-up will refine long-term estimates of the duration effect on disease-free survival and overall survival. The health economic analysis will be updated to include long-term extrapolation for subgroups. We expect these analyses to be available in 2019-20. The Short Course Oncology Therapy (SCOT) study translational samples may allow the identification of patients who would benefit from longer treatment based on the molecular characteristics of their disease., Trial Registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN59757862 and EudraCT 2007-003957-10., Funding: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment ; Vol. 23, No. 64. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information. This research was supported by the Medical Research Council (transferred to NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre - Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation; grant reference G0601705), the Swedish Cancer Society and Cancer Research UK Core Clinical Trials Unit Funding (funding reference C6716/A9894)., Competing Interests: Timothy Iveson reports honoraria from Amgen Inc. (Thousand Oaks, CA, USA), Bayer AG (Leverkusen, Germany), Bristol-Myers Squibb (New York, NY, USA), Celgene Corporation (Summit, NJ, USA), Pierre-Fabre (Paris, France), Roche (Roche Holding AG, Basel, Switzerland) and Servier (Laboratories Servier, Suresnes, France). Kathleen A Boyd reports grants from the Medical Research Council during the conduct of the study. Mark P Saunders reports personal fees from Servier, Amgen, Merck (Merck and Co., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA), Eisai (Eisai Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) and Roche outside the submitted work. Jim Cassidy reports grants from the Medical Research Council during the conduct of the study and is currently an employee of Celgene Corporation. Josep Tabernero reports personal fees from Array Biopharma (Boulder, CO, USA), AstraZeneca (Cambridge, UK), Bayer AG (Leverkusen, Germany), BeiGene (Beijing, China), Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany), Chugai (Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Tokyo, Japan), Genentech, Inc. (South San Francisco, CA, USA), Genmab A/S (Copenhagen, Denmark), Halozyme (Halozyme Therapeutics, San Diego, CA, USA), Imugene Limited (Sydney, NSW, Australia), Inflection Biosciences Limited (Blackrock, Dublin), Ipsen (Paris, France), Kura Oncology (San Diego, CA, USA), Eli Lilly and Company (Indianapolis, IN, USA), Merck, Menarini (The Menarini Group, Florence, Italy), Merck Serono (Rockland, MA, USA), Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (MA, USA), Merus (Utrecht, the Netherlands), Molecular Partners (Molecular Partners AG, Zurich, Switzerland), Novartis (Novartis International AG, Basel, Switzerland), Peptomyc, Pfizer Inc. (New York, NY, USA), Pharmacyclics (Pharmacyclics LLC, Sunnyvale, CA, USA), ProteoDesign SL (Barcelona, Spain), Rafael Pharmaceuticals (Stony Brook, NY, USA), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Sanofi (Sanofi S. A., Paris, France), Seattle Genetics (Bothwell, WA, USA), Servier, Symphogen (Symphogen A/S, Ballerup, Denmark), Taiho Pharmaceutical (Tokyo, Japan), VCN Biosciences (Barcelona, Spain), Biocartis (Biocartis Group, Mechelen, Belgium), Foundation Medicine (Cambridge, MA, USA), HalioDX (Marseille, France), SAS Pharmaceuticals (Delhi, India) and Roche Diagnostics outside the submitted work. Bengt Glimelius reports support from PledPharma AB for being on advisory boards. Sherif Raouf reports grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Roche, grants and personal fees from Amgen, and grants and personal fees from Merck outside the submitted work. David Farrugia reports that he received honoraria for speaking in educational events and support for meeting attendance from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, Ipsen, Amgen, AstraZeneca and Merck. David Cunningham reports grants from 4SC (4SC AG, Planegg, Germany), AstraZeneca, Bayer, Amgen, Celgene, Clovis Oncology (Boulder, CO, USA), Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen Pharmaceuticals (Beerse, Belgium), MedImmune (Gaithersburg, MD, USA), Merck, Merrimack and Sanofi, outside the submitted work. Tamish Hickish reports grants from Pfizer, Roche, Pierre Fabre (Paris, France) and personal fees from Eli Lilly and Company during the conduct of the study. John Bridgewater reports funding from the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust/University College London Biomedical Research Centre. David Cunningham reports funding from the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centres at the Royal Marsden.

Cancer Core Europe is a European legal alliance consisting of seven leading cancer centres - most of them Comprehensive Cancer Centres (CCCs) - with a single portal system to engage in various research projects with partners. Cancer Core Europe was established to create a sustainable, high-level, shared research infrastructure platform hosting research collaborations and task forces (data sharing, clinical trials, genomics, immunotherapy, imaging, education and training, and legal and ethical issues), with a controlled expansion agenda. Translational cancer research covers the cancer research continuum from basic to preclinical to early clinical, late clinical, and outcomes research. Basic-preclinical research serves as the 'engine' for early clinical research by bridging the early translational research gap and is the primary and current focus of the consortium as exemplified by the launching of the Basket of Baskets trial, Europe's largest precision cancer medicine trial. Inspired by the creation of Cancer Core Europe, the prevention community established Cancer Prevention Europe, a consortium of ten cancer prevention centres aimed at supporting the complete prevention research continuum. Presently, Cancer Core Europe and Cancer Prevention Europe are integrating therapeutics and prevention strategies to address in partnership the widening cancer problem. By providing innovative approaches for cancer research, links to healthcare systems, development of quality-assured multidisciplinary cancer care, and assessment of long-term outcomes, the virtual infrastructure will serve as a hub to connect and interact with other centres across Europe and beyond. Together, Cancer Core Europe and Cancer Prevention Europe are prepared to function as a central engine to tackle, in collaboration with various partners, a potential 'mission on cancer' addressing the cancer burden., (© 2019 The Authors. Published by FEBS Press and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Translational cancer research covers the whole cancer research continuum from basic to preclinical to early clinical, late clinical and outcomes research. Basic-preclinical research is the "engine" for early clinical research bridging the early translational research gap. Cancer Core Europe has been created to construct a sustainable, high level, shared research infrastructure platform with research collaborations and taskforces (data sharing, clinical trials, genomics, immunotherapy, imaging, legal & ethical problems, and education & training) having representatives from all seven member centres, in a controlled expansion model. In parallel, a consortium of ten cancer prevention centres was established, Cancer Prevention Europe, to support the complete cancer prevention research continuum. Cancer Core Europe is launching at present the Basket of Baskets trial, which is the largest personalized cancer medicine trial effort in Europe. At present, Cancer Core Europe and Cancer Prevention Europe are in the process of integrating therapeutics and prevention strategies to address in partnership the increasing cancer problem. By offering innovative approaches for cancer research, links to the healthcare systems, development of quality-assured multidisciplinary cancer care, as well as the assessment of long-term outcomes, the infrastructure is expected to serve as a hub to connect with other centres in Europe as well as on other continents. In this manner Cancer Core Europe and Cancer Prevention Europe prepare to tackle the "Mission on Cancer", with infrastructure and proofs of concept for therapeutics and prevention, research for assessment of effectiveness, health economics and added value for patients and the healthcare systems., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

A European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)-sponsored expert meeting was held in Paris on 8 March 2018 which comprised 11 experts from academia, 11 experts from the pharmaceutical industry and 2 clinicians who were representatives of ESMO. The focus of the meeting was exclusively on the intratumoral injection/delivery of immunostimulatory agents with the aim of harmonizing the standard terms and methodologies used in the reporting of human intratumoral immunotherapy (HIT-IT) clinical trials to ensure quality assurance and avoid a blurring of the data reported from different studies. The goal was to provide a reference document, endorsed by the panel members that could provide guidance to clinical investigators, pharmaceutical companies, ethics committees, independent review boards, patient advocates and the regulatory authorities and promote an increase in the number and quality of HIT-IT clinical trials in the future. Particular emphasis was placed not only on the development of precise definitions to facilitate a better understanding between investigators but also on the importance of systematic serial biopsies as a driver for translational research and the need for the recording and reporting of data, to facilitate a better understanding of the key processes involved.

Background: Trifluridine/tipiracil showed activity and was well tolerated in a phase 2 study of pretreated patients with advanced gastric cancer done in Japan. We investigated whether the treatment was efficacious compared with placebo in a global population., Methods: TAGS was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial done in 110 academic hospitals in 17 countries. Patients aged 18 years or older with histologically confirmed, non-resectable, metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma (including adenocarcinoma of the gastroesophageal junction) as defined by the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging classification (7th edition) who had received at least two previous chemotherapy regimens and had experienced radiological disease progression were eligible for inclusion. Patients were randomly assigned (2:1) via dynamic randomisation from a centralised interactive voice-response system to receive either oral trifluridine/tipiracil (35 mg/m 2 twice daily on days 1-5 and days 8-12 every 28 days) plus best supportive care or placebo plus best supportive care. Participants were allocated to groups by study-site personnel. Randomisation was stratified by region (Japan vs rest of world), ECOG performance status (0 vs 1), and previous treatment with ramucirumab (yes vs no). Both patients and investigators were masked to treatment allocation. The primary endpoint was overall survival. Efficacy was assessed in the intention-to-treat population and safety in all patients who received at least one dose of treatment. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02500043. The trial, including follow-up of all participants, has been completed., Findings: Between Feb 24, 2016, and Jan 5, 2018, 507 patients were enrolled and randomly assigned, 337 to the trifluridine/tipiracil group and 170 to the placebo group. Median overall survival was 5·7 months (95% CI 4·8-6·2) in the trifluridine/tipiracil group and 3·6 months (3·1-4·1) in the placebo group (hazard ratio 0·69 [95% CI 0·56-0·85]; one-sided p=0·00029, two-sided p=0·00058). Grade 3 or worse adverse events of any cause occurred in 267 (80%) patients in the trifluridine/tipiracil group and 97 (58%) in the placebo group. The most frequent grade 3 or worse adverse events of any cause were neutropenia (n=114 [34%]) and anaemia (n=64 [19%]) in the trifluridine/tipiracil group and abdominal pain (n=15 [9%]) and general deterioration of physical health (n=15 [9%]) in the placebo group. Serious adverse events of any cause were reported in 143 (43%) patients in the trifluridine/tipiracil group and 70 (42%) in the placebo group. One treatment-related death was reported in each group (because of cardiopulmonary arrest in the trifluridine/tipiracil group and because of toxic hepatitis in the placebo group)., Interpretation: Trifluridine/tipiracil significantly improved overall survival compared with placebo and was well tolerated in this heavily pretreated population of patients with advanced gastric cancer. Trifluridine/tipiracil could be a new treatment option in this population who represent a high unmet medical need., Funding: Taiho Oncology and Taiho Pharmaceutical., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Because a dose-response relationship is characteristic of conventional chemotherapy, this concept is widely used for the development of novel cytotoxic (CTX) drugs. However, the need to reach the MTD to obtain optimal benefit with molecularly targeted agents (MTA) is controversial. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between dose and efficacy in a large cohort of phase I patients with solid tumors., Experimental Design: We collected data on 1,182 consecutive patients treated in phase I trials in 14 European institutions in 2005-2007. Inclusion criteria were: (i) patients treated within completed single-agent studies in which a maximum-administered dose was defined and (ii) RECIST/survival data available., Results: Seventy-two percent of patients were included in trials with MTA (N = 854) and 28% in trials with CTX (N = 328). The objective response (OR) rate was 3% and disease control at 6 months was 11%. OR for CTX was associated with higher doses (median 92% of MTD); this was not the case for MTA, where patients achieving OR received a median of 50% of MTD. For trials with MTA, patients treated at intermediate doses (40%-80%) had better survival compared with those receiving low or high doses (P = 0.038). On the contrary, there was a direct association between higher dose and better OS for CTX agents (P = 0.003)., Conclusion: Although these results support the development of novel CTX based on MTD, we found no direct relationship between higher doses and response with MTA in unselected patients. However, the longest OS was seen in patients treated with MTA at intermediate doses (40%-80% of MTD)., (©2014 American Association for Cancer Research.)

European cancer research for a transformative initiative by creating a consortium of six leading excellent comprehensive cancer centres that will work together to address the cancer care-cancer research continuum. Prerequisites for joint translational and clinical research programs are very demanding. These require the creation of a virtual single 'e-hospital' and a powerful translational platform, inter-compatible clinical molecular profiling laboratories with a robust underlying computational biology pipeline, standardised functional and molecular imaging, commonly agreed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for liquid and tissue biopsy procurement, storage and processing, for molecular diagnostics, 'omics', functional genetics, immune-monitoring and other assessments. Importantly also it requires a culture of data collection and data storage that provides complete longitudinal data sets to allow for: effective data sharing and common database building, and to achieve a level of completeness of data that is required for conducting outcome research, taking into account our current understanding of cancers as communities of evolving clones. Cutting edge basic research and technology development serve as an important driving force for innovative translational and clinical studies. Given the excellent track records of the six participants in these areas, Cancer Core Europe will be able to support the full spectrum of research required to address the cancer research- cancer care continuum. Cancer Core Europe also constitutes a unique environment to train the next generation of talents in innovative translational and clinical oncology., (Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Although the incidence of gastric cancer has fallen steadily in developed countries over the past 50 years, outcomes in Western countries remain poor, primarily due to the advanced stage of the disease at presentation. While earlier diagnosis would help to improve outcomes for patients with gastric cancer, better understanding of the biology of the disease is also needed, along with advances in therapy. Indeed, progress in the treatment of gastric cancer has been limited, mainly because of its genetic complexity and heterogeneity. As a result, there is an urgent need to apply precision medicine to the management of the disease in order to ensure that individuals receive the most appropriate treatment. This article suggests a number of strategies that may help to accelerate progress in treating patients with gastric cancer. Incorporation of some of these approaches could help to improve the quality of life and survival for patients diagnosed with the disease. Standardisation of care across Europe through expansion of the European Registration of Cancer Care (EURECCA) registry - a European cancer audit that aims to improve quality and decrease variation in care across the region - may also be expected to lead to improved outcomes for those suffering from this common malignancy., (Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)