History
SIOPE was established in 1998 as the European branch of SIOP (International Society of Paediatric Oncology). In 2007, following the revision of its Statute, SIOPE becomes an independent organisation, with a permanent Secretariat in Brussels and a professional structure. In the same year, SIOPE joined forces with ESSO, EACR, ESMO, ESTRO and EONS and founded the European CanCer Organisation (ECCO).
2009 represents a fundamental step stone for SIOPE, which succeeded in obtaining an EU-funded grant for the creation of ENCCA, a European Network for Cancer research in Children and Adolescents comprising 34 influential European research institutes dedicated to improving the treatment of children and adolescents with cancer. Since then, SIOPE got involved in other outstanding EU-funded projects, like PanCareSurFup, ExPO-r-Net and the European Partnership for Action Against Cancer.
In 2012, SIOPE underwent a second major restructuring, implementing a new membership model which opens its membership to members of the national paediatric haemato-oncology societies in Europe. Currently, SIOPE is legally established under Belgian law as an Association Sans But de Lucre (A.S.B.L.). SIOPE’s activities are financed through the membership fee of its members and through EU funds.
Finally, after an extensive consensus-building process, in 2015 the SIOPE Strategic Plan was officially presented at the medical community (during the SIOPE Session of the 2015 European Cancer Congress) and launched at the EU policy-level (during a key event hosted by MEP Alojz Peterle and co-organised by SIOPE and the ‘MEPs Against Cancer’ Group at the European Parliament).
Memberships
SIOPE is member of:
- ECCO, the European CanCer Organisation – Founding Member
- SIOP, the International Society for Paediatric Oncology – European Branch
- EURORDIS, the European Organisation for Rare Diseases
- Rare Cancers Europe
- EFGCP, the European Forum for Good Clinical Practice
