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Meeting Reports |
10th NCI-EORTC Symposium on New Drugs in Cancer Therapy, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Footnotes
[Adapted from the 10th NCI-EORTC Symposium Abstract Book; also published as: Annals of Oncology, Supplement 2, Volume 9, pages vi - vii (background information): "NCI-EORTC Symposium on New Drugs in Cancer Therapy," by M.R.L. Krul, and "The EORTC New Drug Development Office (NDDO)" by C.K. van Kalken. Reprinted with kind permission from Kluwer Academic Publishers.]
Correspondence: Mark R.L. Krul, Ph.D., EORTC New Drug Development Office, Free University Hospital, P.O. Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Telephone: +31-20-444-2768; Fax: +31-20-444-2699; e-mail: krul{at}eortc.nl
History of the Series
Two organizations that made a major contribution to the discovery and development of potential new anticancer agents are the NCI (United States National Cancer Institute) and the EORTC (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer). A series of specialized symposia, the NCI-EORTC Symposia on New Drugs in Cancer Therapy, has been dedicated to this theme. The first four symposia were held in Brussels, Belgium, and were organized by Dr. Marcel Rozencweig. In 1984, after Dr. H.M. Pinedo had established the EORTC New Drug Development Office (NDDO) in Amsterdam, the symposium moved to Amsterdam as well. All subsequent symposia were organized by the NDDO, with Dr. Pinedo as symposium President, starting with the 5th NCI-EORTC Symposium on New Drugs in Cancer Therapy in October 1986. Since then, the symposium has seen a strong growth to over 1,750 participants from 50 countries at this year's meeting. This growth has been achieved not only by increased participation from European countries, but there has been an even stronger increase in the number of participants from other continents, notably North America and the Far East. Approximately one-third of the participants were non-European. The series has achieved a truly global scale and provides an excellent forum to everyone involved in the research and development of new anticancer agents which nowadays tends to occur in a worldwide setting.
Scope of the Symposium
The symposium series aims to provide a forum for presentation and discussion of recent results in the research and development of new anticancer agents in a broad sense, including compounds from natural or synthetic origin, biological agents, immunological treatments, gene therapy, and drugs designed to modify the action and/or the toxicity of existing anticancer agents. The symposium covers both preclinical research and (early) clinical development of such drugs, including methodologies employed in each of the research areas involved.
The scientific program focuses on state-of-the-art presentations by top speakers, and is organized according to the highest possible standards.
Drug Development
The field of anticancer drug development is facing some unprecedented alterations, changing the research landscape entirely. Increasing pressure on governmental and charity budgets forces academic institutions and research-driven organizations to come up with modern ways of project financing. At the same time, price cuts and a series of mergers have reduced R&D budgets in the pharmaceutical industry. This has resulted in more carefully designed drug development programs and strategic alliances with specialized research organizations and institutions. On the other hand, due to recent advances in basic research and new methods for drug discovery, the number and variety of innovative anticancer drugs is higher than ever. The prospect of achieving significant improvement in treatment is therefore more realistic than the decades of conventional chemotherapy behind us.
Research in the field of anticancer drug development revealed during the last few years, besides the conventional type of cytotoxic agents, a number of novel approaches. A few of these have already reached the clinic. These include new radio-sensitizing drugs, drugs stimulating cytokine production, small peptides affecting receptors and the cell cycle, anti-sense compounds, monoclonal antibodies, the anti-angiogenic and anti-metastatic agents, gene therapy and vaccines. These novel approaches might introduce a new era of improved therapies for patients with cancer but also urge the need for developing new guidelines for preclinical research and for phase I and phase II clinical trials. All aspects regarding modern drug discovery and drug development were discussed thoroughly at this symposium during the seven workshops, the 70 plenary lectures and the three poster review lectures. In addition to the almost 500 abstracts accepted for poster display at the symposium, a number of additional interesting abstracts are published in the abstract book, providing a complete overview of the current status of the development of new drugs for cancer therapy.
Collaboration
Over the past years the NDDO has been implementing and disseminating its basic philosophy, that fast-track, high-quality development of more specific new anticancer agents is not only in the interest of cancer patients but also in the interest of those who are professionally involved with the problem of cancer. This concept is enjoying an increasing awareness and interest. In 1986, an agreement was signed between the NCI, the Cancer Research Campaign in the United Kingdom and the EORTC to establish an intercontinental network on drug development. This agreement was updated in 1995 and due to acceptance of the Standard Operating Procedures of the NDDO by the FDA, global regulatory affairs related to the preclinical and clinical data of the EORTC are greatly facilitated. The NDDO provides companies and organizations with an attractive infrastructure for drug development. Through the NDDO in vitro and in vivo experimental studies, formulation and toxicology studies, as well as extensively monitored phase I and early phase II clinical studies, can be conducted in a highly efficient and transparent development program.
European Gateway
During the last decade, pharmaceutical companies have discovered the NDDO as their gateway to European drug development. At present 35 compounds, including vaccines, signal transduction inhibitors and antisense oligonucleotides, are in different stages of late pre-clinical and early clinical development through the NDDO. Two-thirds of these compounds come from the pharmaceutical companies. The NDDO is responsible for data management and monitoring of early clinical trials carried out within the Early Clinical Studies Group (ECSG) and the Biological Therapeutics Development Group (BTDG) of the EORTC. The ECSG is an established network of 50 oncology centers from all over Europe and two from Israel. The ECSG is known for its high quality of clinical trails and has built an impressive track record. The BTDG, which was established only in 1994, focuses on the organization of preclinical and clinical research on anticancer therapy with biologically active agents. Already five phase I and phase II clinical trials with different kinds of vaccines and antibodies are in an advanced state of preparation or have already been activated.
Future Aims
It is the ultimate goal of the NDDO to minimize the development time of a new drug while meeting the highest regulatory and scientific standards. Through the EORTC network and the commitment of the NDDO, the logistics for optimal development of new anticancer agents are in place in Europe.
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