2012 EDUCATIONAL BOOK - American Society of Clinical Oncology

ESGO EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
accuracy of ultrasound in predicting tumor size, parametrial
and lymph node involvement, distance between the tumor
and the internal cervical os, and depth of stromal invasion
in 83 patients undergoing radical hysterectomy for stage IB
cervical cancer. Overall sensitivity of ultrasound imaging in
the evaluation of parameters required for fertility-sparing
surgery was 68.4%. The lower sensitivity mainly resulted
from lack of detection of lymph-node involvement. 6
The oral translation research award was assigned to
Dr. Lai 7 for her presentation, “Human Ovarian Cancer
Stem Cells Can Be Efficiently Killed by Gamma Delta
T-Lymphocytes.” A subset of cancer stem cells (CSCs) from
SKOV3 cell line were cocultured with gamma delta T cells.
Their proliferation rate decreased to 40% after 48 hours of
exposure. The gamma delta T cells increased the sensitivity
of SKOV3 CSCs to chemotherapeutic drugs. Dr. Lai also
found that gamma delta T cells induced G2/M phase cellcycle
arrest and subsequent apoptosis in SKOV3 CSCs.
Moreover, xenograft mouse models demonstrate that
gamma delta T cells dramatically reduced the tumor burden
in vivo.
Finally, the prize for the best oral presentation in the
young professionals’ session was awarded to “A Risk Model
for Secondary Cytoreductive Surgery in Recurrent Ovarian
Cancer: An Evidence-Based Proposal for Patient Selection.” 8
Individual data on 1,075 patients with recurrent ovarian
cancer undergoing secondary cytoreductive surgery were
pooled and analyzed. Complete secondary cytoreduction was
associated with six variables: International Federation of
Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage (odds ratio [OR] �
1.32), residual disease after primary cytoreduction (OR �
1.69), progression-free interval (OR � 2.27), Eastern Cooperative
Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (OR �
2.23), cancer antigen 125 (OR � 1.85), and ascites at
recurrence (OR � 2.79). These variables were entered into
the risk model and assigned scores to identify low- and
high-risk categories. In external validation, the sensitivity
and specificity were 83.3% and 57.6%, respectively.
ESGO also provides online educational resources available
on ESGO website: 1) webcasts of ESGO meeting sessions
and e-Posters that extend the life of ESGO meetings
and bring them to members who could not attend; 2) an
online Video Library that provides a unique opportunity for
visual education; 3) e-Series, which are webcast presentations
by internationally renowned speakers; 4) educational
DVDs; and 5) the Textbook of Gynaecological Oncology, a
unique publication that compiles articles from world-famous
authors in the field of gynecologic oncology, including surgery,
radiotherapy, chemotherapy and imaging specialties.
Care
Committed to the cause of excellence in care, ESGO aims
to establish multidisciplinary standards of care and acts
as the European authority in the field. Therefore, together
with the European training standards, ESGO set the
multidisciplinary standards of care and provides supervision
for certified training. Within the ESGO-European
Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG)
Hospital Accreditation Program, ESGO has provided hospital
recognition of excellence in training and care while
certifying training centers across Europe. Trainees trained
at ESGO-accredited centers become ESGO-certified gyneco-
logic oncologists. Currently, more than 35 European hospitals
and training centers have been accredited.
Research
One of ESGO’s ambitious goals is to become the voice of
European research in gynecologic cancers and the coordinating
body of European clinical and translational research,
with the aim to improve the prediction, prevention, detection,
and treatment of women-specific cancers.
In 2007, at ESGO’s congress in Berlin, Germany, the
European Network of Gynaecological Oncological Trial
Groups (ENGOT) was founded. Currently, the network
consists of 17 European cooperative groups and national and
regional clinical trial units. A consensus statement on requirements
for trials between academic groups and pharmaceutical
companies has been produced and a roadmap for
clinical trials in Europe has been designed. 9
To complement these existing activities and make further
advances, in 2009 ESGO formed the European Network
of Translational Research in Gynaecological Oncology
(ENTRIGO), a platform that brings together scientists,
clinical academics, and patients. In 2011, ESGO organized
the first ENTRIGO Translational Research Workshop,
which brought together the leading European scientists
in the fields of epidemiology, molecular carcinogenesis, personalized
medicine and molecular imaging, pathology, and
cancer genetics and epigenetics. In a long-term perspective,
the aim of ENGOT is to run large European Union–funded,
trans-European research programs.
Collaboration and Networking
The goal of ESGO is to be a platform promoting and
facilitating collaboration among scientific societies, health
care professionals, patient organizations, business, industry,
and governmental bodies. Within this aim, ESGO’s
biennial meetings give the best networking opportunities to
meet and discuss women-specific cancers, not only to ESGO
members but also to the wide community of medical professionals
interested in these cancers.
Networking is rated by members as one of the most
important appeals of initiating or renewing ESGO membership.
Task forces have been recently established within the
ESGO community to give members opportunities to exchange
ideas and debate a wide range of related topics (e.g.,
cancer in pregnancy, fertility preservation, psycho-oncology,
surgery harmonization). Members are welcome to be involved
in the association, use the ESGO newsletter and
website to promote their open projects, and search for
collaboration with their colleagues.
ESGO pays special attention to cooperation with sister
societies, with regional and international societies of gynecologic
cancer and mainly with the International Society of
Gynecologic Cancer (IGCS), Society of Gynecologic Oncology
(SGO), and Asian Society of Gynecologic cancer (AGCS).
ESGO is a member and representative of gynecologic oncologic
subspecialty of EBCOG and a member of European
Cancer Organisation (ECCO) which is the umbrella organization
of all European cancer-related societies.
Awareness
One of ESGO’s objectives is to raise public and governmental
awareness of gynecologic cancers in Europe, and of
their prevention and treatment. The incidence of and mor-
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