institutionsInstitution
European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)
ESMO is Europe's oncology society, known for its Congress each autumn and the ESMO-MCBS scale for grading the value of new drugs.
ESMO Congress, ESMO Breast, Annals of Oncology, Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale, clinical practice guidelines.
Location
Lugano, CH
Type
consortium
Website
Newsweek 2026 oncology rank
Not in top 300 listing used
OnCo score
#11 · 100 points (0 Newsweek + 0 NCI + 100 from 50 linked objects) · ranking
- ESMO Congress
- ESMO-MCBS
- Guidelines
Andrés Cervantes
Professor of Medicine, University of Valencia; Head of Medical Oncology, INCLIVA; ESMO President 2023-2024
Gastrointestinal oncologyColorectal cancerGuidelines
Andrés Cervantes is a gastrointestinal oncologist and was ESMO President for 2023-2024.
Fabrice André
Director of Research, Gustave Roussy; Professor of Medical Oncology, Paris-Saclay
Breast cancerPrecision oncologyGenomics-driven trials
Breast cancer geneticist who led SOLAR-1 and the SAFIR precision-medicine trials; ESMO President 2025-2026.
Giuseppe Curigliano
Director, Early Drug Development Division, IEO; Professor of Medical Oncology, University of Milan
Breast cancerEarly drug developmentHER2-low disease
Breast oncologist and phase 1 leader who co-led DESTINY-Breast06 and shaped the HER2-low concept.
Josep Tabernero
Director, Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO); Head of Medical Oncology, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital
Colorectal cancerGastrointestinal oncologyEarly drug development
Colorectal cancer trialist who led BEACON and BREAKWATER, bringing targeted therapy to BRAF-mutant disease; former ESMO President.
Martine Piccart
Scientific Director, Institut Jules Bordet; Co-founder, Breast International Group
Breast cancerAdjuvant trastuzumabInternational trial networks
Co-founded the Breast International Group and led HERA, the trial that made adjuvant trastuzumab standard.
Nathan Cherny
Director, Cancer Pain and Palliative Medicine, Shaare Zedek Medical Center; Chair, ESMO-MCBS Working Group
Palliative medicineValue assessment of cancer drugsEthics
Created the ESMO Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale, the standard tool for grading how much a cancer drug really helps.
Pilar Garrido
Head of Medical Oncology, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal; Professor, Universidad de Alcalá; former ESMO Council member
Lung cancerPrecision oncologyHealth policy
Pilar Garrido is a thoracic oncologist and past president of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology.
Solange Peters
Head of Medical Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV); ESMO President 2020-2021
Thoracic oncologyImmunotherapyMesothelioma
Solange Peters is a lung cancer trialist and past ESMO President who led CheckMate 743 in mesothelioma.
institutions
15Champalimaud Foundation – Champalimaud Clinical CentreChinese Society of Clinical OncologyEuropean Cancer OrganisationEuropean Hematology AssociationEuropean Society for Clinical Nutrition and MetabolismEuropean Society for Radiotherapy and OncologyEuropean Society of Gynaecological OncologyEuropean Society of Surgical OncologyINCLIVA Biomedical Research Institute / Hospital Clínico Universitario de ValenciaInternational Association for the Study of Lung CancerJapanese Society of Medical OncologyLausanne University Hospital (CHUV) / Ludwig Institute LausanneMaria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of OncologyMultinational Association of Supportive Care in CancerShaare Zedek Medical Center
ideas
21A guideline fast track for repurposed drugs with phase 3 evidence but no manufacturerA shared compound library that rare cancer researchers can actually useAgree in advance how to borrow evidence between similar rare cancersAn independent programme that validates surrogate endpoints, setting by settingCap public prices for new cancer drugs to tiers of the ESMO and ASCO value scalesEnd the abstract-to-paper gap: require full results with any conference presentationFunded research pathways for surgeon-scientists and radiation oncologist-scientistsGet biomarker-directed aspirin after colorectal surgery into labels and guidelinesGive negative trials plenary slots at the big cancer conferencesGuidelines list the open trials at every decision point, updated monthlyLaunch prices indexed to the ESMO benefit scale, revisited when survival maturesLiving guidelines published as versioned, computable rulesLiving, machine-readable guidelines pushed to the point of care in every countryMicro-learning pushed to community oncologists within 30 days of a practice changeMutual recognition of ethics review across countriesOpen licences for publicly funded cancer guidelinesPay a different price for the same cancer drug depending on the indicationPower trials to detect a benefit patients would value, not the smallest detectable onePre-specified crossover-adjusted survival in every trial that allows crossoverStop excluding brain metastases from cancer trialsWin-ratio endpoints that weigh survival, toxicity and quality of life together
collections
1people
8bottlenecks
11Fragmented care and guideline gapsIncentives reward me-too drugs and marginal gainsKnowledge reaches practice too slowlyNot enough oncologists, nurses, pathologists, physicistsOlder and multimorbid patients are excluded and undertreatedPain relief and palliative care are unavailable to mostPrices and valueRegulatory divergence between regionsToxicity and quality of life are undervaluedTrial design, endpoints and costWeak real-world evidence and registries