Gastro-intestinal

• Several Task Forces of the Group were restructured to encourage greater activity and adapt to the virtual meeting environment:
  • The Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic cancer, and Neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) Task Force was split into Hepatobiliary and NETs Task Force on one side, and Pancreatic cancer Task Force on the other, allowing for more focussed discussion groups.
  • The Colorectal cancer and Anal & Rectal cancer Task Forces were merged in order to harmonise study proposal development.
• Out of 11 applicants to the 2021 call for applications, four Young and Early Career Investigators were selected for developing a research project with a grant from the GITCG.
• The publication reporting on early-onset colorectal cancer (Fontana E et al, JCO 2021) was selected for Rapid Communication in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Published joint Clinical Practice Guidelines on the management of hepatocellular carcinoma with the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) ; . These define the use of surveillance, diagnosis and therapeutic strategies recommended for patients with HCC.

The CLOCC randomised controlled phase II study performed in patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer suggests that radiofrequency ablation of liver lesions prolongs survival . Based on these findings, the group is now starting a study combining this approach with immunotherapy (ILOC study).

Long-term follow up data in the EPOC randomised controlled phase III study confirm the significant improvement in progression-free survival of perioperative chemotherapy in resectable liver metastases from colorectal cancer.