We are delighted to share with you the BIG Annual Report for 2009 - an active and fruitful year for our association.
Download BIG Annual report 2009
In the era of molecular oncology—where the potential of neoadjuvant research to establish a new paradigm of drug development and to bring us into the age of personalised medicine has gained increasing recognition—BIG has been building on its already well established research collaborations to introduce a new model for the conduct of early breast cancer trials: NeoBIG, an international platform for running neoadjuvant trials, was launched in late 2009.
Recruitment to BIG trials reached over 8500 in 2009. With more than 30 trials ongoing or under development, research conducted under the BIG umbrella continued to be productive, leading to numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals as well as presentations at major European and North American conferences.
The work of the TRANSBIG Consortium for the 5th year of the project was qualified as very good by the European Commission (EC)’s independent review report. While nearing the end (in 2011) of its formal support by the EC under Framework Programme VI, many of the TRANSBIG committees and structures are being adapted to expand their expertise across BIG, benefitting the association in the longer term.
The very first edition of the IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference, jointly hosted by BIG and the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) in May 2009 in Brussels, was a resounding success, with almost 700 scientists from 67 countries attending it. This reflects the interest in – and need for – exploring models of international collaboration to translate the benefit of new scientific developments into better, even more tailored treatments for patients sooner.
Finally, BIG reports a positive 2009 financial year and outlook for 2010.
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Martine J Piccart, MD, PhD
BIG Chair |
Aron Goldhirsch, MD, PhD
BIG Vice-chair |