Preface
Author’s introduction: Jean-Pierre Armand, MD, MSc. Institut Gustave Roussy, Cancer Campus Grand Paris, France. Dr JP Armand focuses his cancer research in the field of new mechanism of oncogenese and early drug development. Jean-Pierre Armand, MD, MSc, is certified in Medical Oncology (University of Toulouse III and Paris XI). He was recently General Director of the Institut Claudius Regaud in Toulouse. Over the last five years he has been in charge of the construction of a new cancer center, in a European research hub created in the Toulouse cancer campus (Institut Universitaire du Cancer) and opened in 2014. After a position as research fellow in Columbia University New York, Dr Armand has joined Institut Claudius Regaud in Toulouse, he was head of Medical oncology until 1984. In the next 23 years, at Institut Gustave Roussy (IGR) in Paris, he was successively CEO of the Hospital IGR3, head of the Department of Medical oncology at IGR2 and finally CMO of IGR&D, Dept of Innovation and Development at IGR. Although expert in breast, head&neck, and neuro-oncology, the first field of Dr Armand was very early drug development in phase 1 and 2 of new anticancer agents. He is the founder of the IGR Phase I Unit (Ditep) in the early 80s. He did the first in human phase I in the world at IGR of numerous drugs, now used routinely, including classicals cytotoxics, topo2 inhibitors, Irinotecan, Oxaliplatin, Taxotere, Navelbine, Vinflunine, and more recently targeted therapies, Sutent, Sorafenib, Temsirolimus.. At present, he and his colleagues are concentrating in Gustave Roussy DITEP on new therapies for orphan treatment cancer diseases, with a special personal investment in cancer biotech. Dr Armand is active in the International Cancer community. He served as President of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), President of the French Cancer Society (SFC) Medical Director of the Federation of European Cancer Societies (FECS/ECCO), Chairman of the Protocol Review Committee of European Organization of Research, Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), Chairman of Oncology at French EMA (AFSSAPS), Member of International Boards of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Member of scientific committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and AACR, Member of the board of clinical trials at Institut National du Cancer (INCa) and chairman of the president nominating committee of ESMO. He is member of the Chinese Society of Medical Oncology (CSCO) and did participate actively the creation of the first ESMO-Asia congress in Singapore in December 2016. Dr. JP Armand is also proud to have been a mentor and teacher of multiple students, medical oncology fellows from all over the cancer world. He has (co)authored over 300 medical and scientific peer-reviewed articles and he is/was member of the Editorial Boards of Annals of Oncology, the European Journal of Cancer, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Investigational New Drugs, Anticancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, CISCO journal. After a 5-years as CEO of Institute Claudius Regaud in Toulouse, he is now (2015) back in Paris as senior consultant in the drug development department (DITEP) for Biotechs at Institute GUSTAVE ROUSSY and VP, Chief Medical Strategy Officer, at Cancer campus Grand Paris.
Liya Ju, MD, PhD, Started her research work in China in the eighties in the field of molecular and genetic biology of nasopharyngeal cancer with Pr Dausset, Nobel Price in immunology, she joined in 86 the French public research institute INSERM in Paris and obtained her PhD in immunology at the Institute Pasteur. In 94, she joined DebioPharm, a Swiss biotech company as director of the Chinese Program, as direct assistant to the President General Director for 15 years. Her tasks were the registration of European compounds for the Chinese market (oxaliplatin, decapeptyl), identification of new Chinese molecules from biotech and traditional medicine for development in Europe and US, recognition of DebioChina brand all over China, and building an academic and biotech network serving Debiopharm. In 2008, with this academic and industrial experience of 20 years, Dr Liya Ju set up the SETRAD (Sino-European therapeuticals R&D), a consulting company in the field of pharmacy, based in France with an exclusive activity in China, in order to introduce Chinese innovative compounds to occidental market, register us and European molecules in China, and help the international academic collaboration. In 2011, she was asked by Pr Dominique Charron, director of the Laboratoire Jean Dausset at the University of Paris to join the Saint-Louis Hospital as head of the valorization of this public research institution. She continued in the research in HLA and cancer, immunogenomics, pharmacogemics, and molecular signaling pathway of certain Chinese immunomodulators. In October 2011, she was nominated as Special Representative for International collaboration and China Relation of Gustave Roussy Institute and her main missions consist to promote the highlight scientific programs of IGR-China. She already introduced several French innovations for development in China, such as medical device and new innovative compounds. She recently introduced a Chinese company, to open the French branch inside St Louis Hospital to undergo the clinical studies of new compounds from China. She actively contributed to the creation of Sino-French HLA Technology Center in Shanghai on Dec. 2015 and as vice-general secretariat and head of training department of the Education founds of Dausset and HLA et Medicine under Shanghai GuangCi Translational Medical Research Development Foundation.
This special lung issue of the Chinese Clinical Oncology (CCO) is reporting the last Franco-Chinese symposium in Guangzhou, gathering the experts of Sun Yat Sen hospital (Pro Lanjun Zhang and Li Zhang), Gustave Roussy Institute and Marie-Lannelongue Hospital in Paris (Dr Ju Liya).
It does cover the best of local and stereotactic radiotherapy, extended local surgery, tyrosine kinase therapy and the late but promising immunotherapy approach. The lung conference did aim at gathering distinguished researchers, clinicians, working in the field of lung cancer therapeutics. The CCO journal has already published papers of the Chinese experts in the field. This special issue will offer the French add value to the Chinese oncology community.
Lung cancer is leading cause of cancer in the world with 10 million deaths in 2014. Paradoxically, China, with one million of cancer death has parallel in the last 40 years, its increase cancer life span affecting equally women and man but not in lung cancer.
I did participate recently CSCO and was impressed during this congress by the high percentage of cancer physician always addicted to smoking but complaining of air pollution in many Chinese cities. A total of 2.3 trillion cigarettes are manufactured in China. This is four times the number produced in US. About 1/3 of the world smokers are in China, despite having 1/6 of the world people.
Prevention will remain the key solution but it will take several decades for the 80% attributed to smoking, and before radon natural exposition second cause, will move to the first place in etiology of lung cancer. I don't believe the red wine protection for lung cancer, in a dose dependent manner, as sometime reported in the literature, will be the solution!
The story of tobacco is not over in China, while instead of an ambitious prevention cancer plan, the government remain interested by national protection and taxes advantage. Lung cancer has replaced liver cancer as leading form of cancer in China.
After breast and colon cancer, more recently a major shift became in the last decade with better understanding of genomic alteration, the Achilles heel which are targetable specially in adenocarcinoma.
I am convinced that the major conceptual shift in lung cancer is certainly immunotherapy.
However, to provide the best possible treatment of lung cancer, we do always need cooperative team of specialists as gathered in Guangzhou during the Franco-Chinese meeting.
Senior Consultant, Department of innovative therapeutic, Gustave Roussy Insititute, Grand Paris Cancer Campus, Paris, France. (Email: jeanpierre.armand@gustaveroussy.fr.)
Laboratoire Jean Dausset, Histocompatibility and Immunology, Saint-Louis Hospital, Paris, France. (Email: liya.ju@aphp.fr.)
