Organisational Contributions

The European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO) was founded in 1981, alongside the emergence of more conservative strategies in cancer surgery and increasingly positive results from the integration of radiotherapy and chemotherapy in cancer treatment.

In the late 1970s, a group of visionary radiation oncology specialists—Klaas Breur, Jerzy Einhorn, Michael Peckham, Maurice Tubiana, and Emmanuel van der Schueren—began discussing the creation of a new multidisciplinary scientific society.

The European Cancer Organisation is the largest multi-professional, multidisciplinary society in Europe dedicated to fighting this ubiquitous disease. As a not-for-profit federation of member organisations, it promotes more efficient, effective, and equitable health policies.

Europe's collaborative cancer research movement took root in the mid-1950s, drawing inspiration from similar efforts in the United States. However, unlike their American counterparts, European researchers faced significant funding challenges, as recounted by Silvio Garattini, a key figure in the formation of the European Group for Anticancer Chemotherapy (GECA).

In 1975 the Société de Médecine Interne Cancérologique (SMIC) was created (1). Since the very beginning this society had an international scope as outlined in a letter to Silvio Monfardini by Maurice Schneider “In July 1975, Georges Mathé and I decided to sponsor every year a convention in the first week end of December in Nice.

The European School of Oncology is an independently funded non profit organisation dedicated to quality education and training, because we believe all patients deserve equal access to competent cancer care.

SIOP is the multidisciplinary society devoted to paediatric and adolescent cancers. It was founded in Europe and now has branches worldwide.