International vision

Structure of international team

CLB's Team coordinated by Deputy Executive Director Sophie Beaupère

International team

In order to organize and structure the various international activities carried out by the CLBs team, a steering committee was set up in 2017, coordinated by Deputy Executive Director Sophie Beaupère.

The international projects involve:

  • Receiving and treating foreign patients;
  • Training foreign healthcare professionals;
  • Cooperation agreements with hospitals, universities and research centers.
  • International patients’ Team

    International patients’ office: a team dedicated to your needs

    A dedicated team has been set up to welcome and guide international patients. If you wish to be cared for at the Léon Bérard Cancer Center or need a second opinion, our team is here to assist you at every stage.

    More information
  • Chinese delegation in 2017

    International Partnerships

    The CLB creates privileged partnerships with hospitals, private healthcare professionals, associations representing patients and their families, universities, industrialists and learned societies. In 2017, it welcomed numerous foreign delegations from China, Japan, Russia, Morocco and European countries.

The Centre Léon Bérard as an institution, its doctors and its researchers take part in – and are leaders of – a number of international cooperative groups, in particular aimed at developing clinical research: The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC); Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup (GCIG), an international group for gynecological cancers; the Win Consortium personalized medicine network; Breast International Group (BiG), a European intergroup for academic clinical research on breast cancer; and, in hematology, the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT).

The CLB’s doctors are also members of numerous French, European and international learned societies and schools, of which some of the most prestigious are: ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology); ESMO (European Society for Medical Oncology); ESO (European School of Oncology); ECCO (European CanCer Organisation); ESTRO (European SocieTy for Radiotherapy and Oncology); SIOP (International Society of Pediatric Oncology); as well as, on the research side, AACR (American Association for Cancer Research).

In this context, doctors and researchers publish scientific papers and posters, and attend international conferences, among other activities. For example, in 2019, Lyon will host the international conference of the SIOP, co-organized by Dr. Christophe Bergeron!

EURACAN, a European network of excellence

The CLB coordinates this network dedicated to rare solid cancers

EURACAN kick-off in 2017

Launch of the European Reference Network for Adult Rare Solid Cancers, directed by the Centre Léon Bérard.

The Centre Léon Bérard has been selected to coordinate the European Reference Network for Adult Rare Solid Cancers (ERN-EURACAN). This network was officially launched in Lyon on April 21 and 22. Improving diagnostics and rapid access by all European patients to innovative care, developing cooperative partnerships between the best specialists of Europe, pushing forward research on rare cancers these are the main objectives of EURACAN, coordinated by Prof. Jean-Yves Blay, Executive Director of the CLB.

The Centre Léon Bérard was audited on Thursday October 27, 2016 to validate, on the one hand, its participation as an expert center of the European Reference Network for Adult Rare Solid Cancers, ERN-EURACAN, and on the other hand, its participation as coordinator of this network. The CLB responded to the call for proposals from the European Reference Network (ERN) in June 2016 by submitting the EURACAN (EUropean RAre CANcers) project, which represents the only ERN for adult rare solid cancers among the 24 ERN that submitted proposals (3 ERN for cancers and 21 ERN for rare diseases). These networks are based on the national certifications of pre-existing expert centers and reference networks (supported by the various NCIs and health authorities).

The research teams of the Centre Léon Bérard are developing excellent research with an international outlook. International partnerships are forged in basic, translational and clinical research.

For example, the Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL) includes 34 nationalities within its teams. In addition, in 2017, its ‘EMT and plasticity of cancer cells’ team, led by Prof. Alain Puisieux, was the winner of a call for proposals, supported by the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), for the creation of an International Associated Laboratory (IAL), for a period of four years, with the team led by Frédéric Hollande, based at the University of Melbourne / Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

Also in 2017, the CLB finalized collaborations with Asia. Under the aegis of the SIRIC (Integrated Cancer Research Cluster), the Center participated in the Franco-Chinese school of oncology in Wuhan and organized a meeting with the Union hospital in Wuhan. It is expected that research projects on common themes will focus specifically on cancers of the breast, the head and the neck, as well as urological cancers.

A similar partnership has been initiated with Japan to promote collaborations on genomics, radiobiology and radiotherapy.

OECI, a European accreditation

The accreditation of the CLB within the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes was made official at the general meeting of the OECI on June 23, 2017 in Brno, Czech Republic.

The aim of this certification is to have the CLB recognized as a European Comprehensive Cancer Centre among European cancer institutes, in order subsequently to obtain recognition for its level of excellence in translational research.

Our certifications

• Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) Certification

• Head of European Excellence Network for solid rare tumours, gathering 60 European centers (EURACAN)

• Head of European Excellence Network for Pediatric Cancers (PAEDCAN)