History

Historical Background

Surgery and radiotherapy used to be the only elements of cancer therapy. At the end of the 1950s the U.S. National Cancer Institute in particular started to conduct systematic preclinical and clinical tests of substances in view of their anti-cancerous effects. During the course of this development the first cooperative study groups emerged in the U.S. These groups conducted clinical trials on behalf of the National Cancer Institute and thus lay the grounds for proper patient-oriented clinical cancer research.

Swiss clinicians, who returned from their research stay in the U.S., in 1965 founded the Swiss Chemotherapy Group, which was later renamed SAKK, to meet the need for a national interdisciplinary cooperative group.

In the 1970s SAKK worked closely with the American cooperative research groups. In the 1980s SAKK conducted and published significant trials on gastrointestinal tumors and breast cancer – thanks to participation in studies of the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) also in the area of adjuvant breast cancer therapies.

1991 the former SAKK was transferred into the Swiss Institute for Applied Cancer Research (SIAK). SIAK was established in accordance with the three-division model of applied oncological research with the following domains and key tasks:

Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK):
Clinical Cancer Research involving adults

Swiss Association of Cancer Registries (VSKR):
Epidemiological studies on cancer prevalence, investigations on risk factors and evaluation of prevention programs

Swiss Pediatric Oncology Group (SPOG):
Clinical Cancer Research involving children and adolescents
In 2007, the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK) merged with the Swiss Institute for Applied Cancer Research (SIAK). The new organization carries the name SAKK and consists of a broad network of about 20 research groups all across Switzerland as well as a coordinating center in Bern. The ten existing regional cancer registries joined the National Institute for Cancer Epidemiology and Registration (NICER). The Swiss Pediatric Oncology Group retains its indepence and continues to focus on cancer research involving children and adolescents.