NDDO and ESMO are joined by US National Cancer Institute in conference series on targeted cancer therapies

The announcement comes after the appointment of Professor Giuseppe Giaccone, President of the TAT series’ Organizing Committee, as the new Chief of the Medical Oncology Branch in the Center for Cancer Research at the NCI.

NCI will be joining a conference series that has established its reputation, in particular, in the field of early-phase clinical trials and translational research of targeted agents for cancer therapy. John E. Niederhuber, M.D., NCI Director and NCI staff will join the Organizing Committee and the Scientific Advisory Board of the TAT series as of TAT 2008.

Professor Håkan Mellstedt, ESMO’s President, said that ESMO fully supports the expansion of the partnership to include the NCI, as this will further broaden the scientific basis for the conference series and will help strengthen the ties between two of the leading organizations in cancer research and patient care in Europe and the USA.

Dr. Coenraad van Kalken, Director NDDO Research Foundation, views the current development as a logical next step in the maturation of the TAT series and the NDDO Research Foundation as a whole: “The NDDO Research Foundation not only organizes conferences like the TAT meetings, we also support a range of new initiatives in the fields of early diagnosis and prevention of cancer. Therefore, our association with ESMO and NCI through the TAT series may prove beneficial for other NDDO-supported activities as well”.