Words from the President
Cancer affects approximately one in three men and one in four women before they reach the age of 75 (Belgian Cancer Registry, 2015). The Belgian Association for Cancer Research (BACR) was founded by highly motivated clinicians and researchers to support cancer research and to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the initiation and progression of this disease. We consider that each advance of knowledge in this field, as minimal as it is, represents a potential novel approach to offer more effective cancer prevention and superior anti-cancer therapies.
Above all, BACR mission is the gathering of Belgian clinicians and researchers to make them join their expertise on critical cancer-related questions going from basic and preclinical research to clinical trials with proven benefit to the patients. Our scientific community comprises numerous internationally renowned fundamental and clinical scientists that are scattered over several universities campuses and research centers in the country. The main objectives of BACR is to make this expertise and know-how efficiently (1) RECOGNIZED nationally and internationally, (2) SHARED through collaborative studies, and (3) TRANSMITTED to young beginners in cancer research field.
To meet its objectives, BACR notably organizes since 1994 an annual meeting regrouping researchers and clinicians from eight Belgian universities (yearly rotating organization) with invited national and international prestigious speakers. Young researchers are awarded for best talks in plenary session and best posters. As such, BACR annual meetings have punctuated the careers of generations of successful Belgian researchers and we have no doubt that gathering cancer research main actors is a worthwhile strategy to succeed in our battle against cancer.
Akeila Bellahcène, President BACR