REPORT ON THE EURO EWING CONSORTIUM (EEC) MEETING

3 luglio 2015

by Ornella Gonzato The Euro Ewing Consortium Meeting was held last June 2015 in London. The EURO EWING Consortium – International Clinical Trials to Improve Survival from Ewing Sarcoma (EEC project) is a UCL coordinated collaborative project involving 20 European partners, which has recently been awarded funding through the European Union's Framework Programme 7 (FP7). Ewing Sarcomas (ES) are fatal, rare bone cancers particularly affecting young people. About 60% of patients achieve long term survival with current treatment but there has been no improvement in this proportion for 25 years. Treatment is unsuccessful because chemotherapy fails to prevent the development of, or to effectively treat established, metastases.The Euro Ewing Consortium is a coalition of clinical study groups bringing together the most active clinicians and scientists in Europe dedicated to improving survival from ES. This initiative will support an integrated programme of investigator-driven, inclusive clinical trials that are rigorously designed, conducted, analysed and reported, and underpinned by complementary embedded translational research. Through collaborative working, the EEC will provide ES patients with greater access to clinical trials, allow efficient acquisition of knowledge and deliver clinically meaningful results within 5 years, thereby contributing to improved survival from ES.Achievements and future plans for the ongoing trials (Ewing 2012 and rEECur) were discussed:-Ewing 2012 is the first-line chemotherapy randomized trial in Ewing Sarcoma patients of all ages which aims to define standards of care for adjuvant chemotherapy to prevent development of metastases and increase survival. The Euro Ewing 2012 trial opened to recruitment in December 2013 in the UK and in March 2015 in Spain. Regulatory approval has been obtained in France and Belgium and ethical approval in France.The update of the running trial was supplied; radiotherapy questions, sample collection and biological studies were among the main issues discussed;-rEECur is the second-line chemotherapy randomized trial in patients of all ages with Ewing Sarcoma recurrence. The rEECur trial opened in December 2014 in the UK and to date there are four active sites within the UK. Internationally, regulatory and ethical approval has been obtained for Spain, Norway and Finland, and Spain has recently opened the study (in April 2015). Belgium, Germany and Italy are nearing completion for regulatory and ethical approval.One of the main EEC activities regards the involvement of Patient Public Involvement (PPI). The aim is to involve patients and carers in the activities of the EEC and to ensure that relevant information is communicated in a clear and efficient way both to Partners and those outside of the EEC.The achievements obtained over the first period (18 months) are summarized below:- a list of organizations dealing with bone sarcoma and interested in collaborating was generated by SPAEN, the lead Partner in this area, which carried out a survey across Europe registering potential participants;- based on this register, a core group of consumers has been established and is being used, on one hand, to communicate events and activities relating to PPI, and on the other to provide useful input for the EEC;- a session on patient perspective on the research that is being carried out by the EEC was held by Patient experts;- a consultation between Partners and consumers was recently carried out to identify the priorities for the rest of the project. The first one identified, in which the patient community can play an important  role, regards the improvement of the availability of tissue samples for research.This last topic was discussed during this last London meeting in order to define objectives and plans relative to it, starting from the importance of better informing patients and explaining the  meaning and value of the availability of their tissue samples for research.For more information on EEC, visit the website www.euroewing.euFor more info on the summaries of the Euro Ewing 2012 and rEECur trialFor more information on the summaries of the Euro Ewing 2012 and rEECur trials, please visit:http://www.euroewing.eu/clinical-trials/ee2012-trial/patients-ee2012http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/find-a-clinical-trial/a-trial-looking-treatment-ewings-sarcoma-family-of-tumours-euro-ewing-2012http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/find-a-clinical-trial/a-trial-looking-at-chemotherapy-for-ewings-sarcoma-reecur 3^rd July 2015