The NCI-EORTC Symposia on New Drugs in Cancer Therapy: A Brief History

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.