L. Decoster MD, PhD

O.03 Identification of candidate breast cancer predisposition genes by sequencing extended panel of 492 cancer associated genes in BRCA1/2 negative probands

Parp inhibitors

Summary

Inhibition of Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 has relatively recently entered the clinic. The ground-breaking drug both scientifically and clinically was olaparib, but several other PARP inhibitors are in development. This treatment is the first to therapeutically exploit mutant recessive cancer genes. In this review we discuss the discovery of this treatment, the preclinical and clinical studies, as well as some future perspectives.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2016;10(7):263–275)

Geriatric oncology and supportive care: a global approach to advance the science

Summary

Report from the 2015 Annual Meeting of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG).
The 2015 Annual Conference of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology took place in Prague, Czech Republic from November 12–14^th. More than 400 delegates with a special interest in the care for older patients with cancer attended this conference, including medical oncologists, geriatricians, surgeons, nurses and other professional health care workers. The meeting provided an overview of current advances in geriatric oncology domains.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2016;10(3):108–9)

Highlights in endocrine and neuroendocrine tumours

The 2014 annual meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) featured a number of interesting studies in endocrine and neuroendocrine oncology. This report will first focus on two presentations regarding lenvatinib in the treatment of thyroid cancers. In addition to this, the final OS of the RADIANT-3 study, evaluating everolimus in patients with advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (NET), will be summarized. The last part of the report will focus on the molecular profiling of NETs and discusses a study assessing the quality of life in NET patients using lanreotide autogel.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2014;8(4):163–5)

Geriatric oncology in Belgium

As in other developed countries, the management of older cancer patients has become a major public health concern in Belgium owing to an increasing incidence and to other challenging specificities of this population. Since 2009, the Cancer Plan has played a leading role in the development of geriatric oncology in our country by supporting numerous pilot projects. By the year 2015, a scientific analysis of each of these projects will provide important information to the public authorities and care givers in order to organise the management of older cancer patients in an optimal way in Belgium. In this article, we describe the present landscape of geriatric oncology in Belgium focusing on epidemiological data and pilot projects supported by the Cancer Plan 2009–2011 and 2012–2015.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2014;8(5):206–12)

New medical treatments in thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancers are rare diseases and include types that range from indolent localised differentiated carcinomas to fulminant and lethal anaplastic disease. Until recently, treatment options for advanced or metastatic radio-iodine refractory thyroid cancer were limited. Recently kinase inhibitors targeting angiogenesis and other pathways have shown promising activity.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2014;8(3):81–6)