EEC · EURO EWING Consortium – International Clinical Trials to Improve Survival from Ewing Sarcoma

Ewing Sarcomas (ES) are fatal, rare bone cancers particularly affecting young people. About 60% of patients achieve long term survival with current treatment but there has been no improvement in this proportion for 25 years. Treatment is unsuccessful because chemotherapy fails to prevent the development of, or to effectively treat established, metastases. In addition, of the 600 new cases of ES occurring in the EU each year, less than half will receive treatment ‘appropriate’ to deliver the most favourable outcome. The EUROEWING Consortium (EEC) is a coalition of clinical study groups bringing together the most active clinicians and scientists in Europe dedicated to improving survival from ES. This initiative can achieve this through an integrated programme of investigator-driven, inclusive clinical trials that are rigorously designed, conducted, analysed and reported, and underpinned by complementary embedded translational research. These include i) a first line randomised study in patients of all ages with ES which defines standards of care to prevent development of metastases and serves as a backbone for implementation of new agents, and ii) a randomised study of current second line chemotherapy in patients of all ages with ES which will serve as a platform for testing of new agents. Companion studies in association with these trials will be performed investigating tumour biology, underlying causes of differential response and toxicity, and other biomarkers. The programme will be supported by new initiatives for the involvement of patients in research planning and operation. Through collaborative working, the EEC will provide ES patients with greater access to clinical trials, allow efficient acquisition of knowledge and deliver clinically meaningful results within the lifetime of the grant, thereby contributing to improved survival from ES.