Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Europe after cardiovascular diseases. Each year, nearly 3.5 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed in the EU countries out of which more than 1.5 million deaths. Facing this significant number, investment in clinical cancer research remains crucial.

It is with this perspective in mind that the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) was founded in the early ‘60s to provide patients with the best treatments. Today, the organization still remains at the forefront of clinical cancer research.

Explaining basic and clinical research, the challenges, patient information and rights, the role of the EORTC and research perspectives, these are all topics that this small but dense book attempts to synthesize. Ultimately, this book is aimed at all those directly or indirectly related to this serious disease, patients, economic and political decision-makers, pharmaceutical manufacturers and of course, physicians.

Françoise Meunier is one of the foremost specialists in the field of oncology. Since 1991 she is responsible for the coordination of the scientific activities and strategies of the EORTC. She was appointed Senior Research Associate at the FNRS (1990) while Head of Infectious Diseases Department and Microbiology Laboratory at the Institut Jules Bordet in Brussels. She is also a member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium, the European Academy of Cancer Sciences and the Scientific Committee of IMI (Innovative Medicines Initiative) of the European Union.