REACHIN trial: Results published in the Annals of Oncology on 24 May 2020
Regorafenib after failure of gemcitabine and platinum-based chemotherapy for locally advanced/metastatic biliary tumors: a randomized, double-blind, phase 2 trial – REACHIN

The COVID-19 pandemics creates a rapidly evolving situation, in which recommendations may vary in a matter of days from one region to another and even differ among several hospitals in the same region.
Belgium is beginning today its deconfinement period, and we have to reckon the high-risk possibility of an abrupt setback.
To reflect this development, we removed previous recommendations from our website, and have provided hereunder links to several general papers from international scientific organizations.

• ESMO guidelines - ESMO management and treatment adapted recommendations in the covid-19 era: colorectal cancer (CRC)
• ASCO guidelines Ethics and Resource Scarcity: ASCO Recommendations for the Oncology Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Recently updated FFCD guidelines Prise en charge des cancers digestifs en fonction de la situation épidémique COVID-19
• Managing cancer during a pandemic. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 17, 267 (2020).
• Hanna TP, Evans GA, Booth CM. Cancer, COVID-19 and the precautionary principle: prioritizing treatment during a global pandemic. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2020;17(5):268‐270. doi:10.1038/s41571-020-0362-6

New dates FFCD & BGDO Digestive Oncology Intensive Course  20 - 21 May 2021 -  - Brussels

BGDO Prize Best presentation Belgian Week 2020 - Congratulations to Sofie De Meulder with her abstract on Real world incidence of microsatellite instability or EBV positivity in a Belgian cohort of patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, gastroesophageal junction and stomach

The BGDO is aware of the need to roll out a national advice on DPD screening. For the moment, several issues are still pending: capacity and turn around time for testing, as well as reimbursement issues. We have established an internal working group and are in close contact with representatives of RIZIV/INAMI, the belgian medical centers for human genetics, the clinical biologists and the BSMO. Information will follow through this portal.

BGDO TRIALS presented at ESMO and ASCO-GI Results of the MAGNET, QOLINPAC and REACH-IN trials are communicated in international congresses
MAGNET and QOLINPAC are accepted as poster and poster discussion at the forthcoming ESMO, and REACH-IN is sent as abstract for presentation at ASCO-GI.

The BGDO has been recognized legally as Sponsor for non-commercial clinical trials,which is a huge step forward for the implementation of new trials, and the development of the BGDO as a valid and reliable partner with other collaborative groups.

Letter to the Minister Maggy De Block - The BGDO gives its opinion
The BGDO board took the initiative to write a letter to the Minister. We have the will to be involved in the discussions of all aspects of digestive oncology, including the surgical aspects. Improvement of the quality of digestive oncology in Belgium is indeed one of the main raisons of our multidisciplinary group