Research and quality control in surgical oncology

Surgery remains one of the key elements of current cancer treatment strategies and can possibly cure the disease when it is performed correctly. At advanced stages of the disease, it also can provide a certain level of palliation with delay of progression, relief of symptoms, or improvement of quality of life (cosmetic removal of unaesthetic lesions). With the evolution of the detection techniques and mass screening programs allowing earlier diagnosis of cancer, surgery is called to play an even more important role in the curative setting. For that reason more attention is put on the extent of surgery (conservative versus mutilating approaches) and also on the quality of the procedures performed. Both aspects are integrated into the research agenda of the EORTC at a central level (quality assurance) and within the various clinical research groups. The development of numerous guidelines and recommendations integrated into EORTC protocols also largely contributes to the education of the surgeons and indirectly affect their daily practice positively. It is of utmost importance that this treatment modality, like the others, is discussed regularly and challenged at the European and international level through the setting of multinational clinical trials confronting different opinions and cultures. The EORTC is dedicated to offer such a forum for discussion and to remain a platform to allow such a research to take place when financial resources are scarce as opposed to those of the drug development industry.