Editorial

A Milestone

We have reached a noteworthy milestone with this issue of ESUN. We have completed three years of publication! Since you have seen where it’s been, I’d like to share with you some of what lies ahead for ESUN in 2007. There are some exciting things for ESUN on the horizon.

I am delighted to tell you that there will be an Op Ed piece appearing in each issue in 2007 written by one of the members of the Board of Directors of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS). CTOS is the premier international professional medical society for physicians and scientists with a primary interest in the tumors of connective tissues. The goal of the society is to advance the care of patients with connective tissue tumors and to increase knowledge of all aspects of the biology of these tumors, including basic and clinical research. The Op Ed pieces are intended to address important and controversial issues in the field. Dr. Lor Randall, a member of the CTOS Board of Directors and a member of ESUN's Medical Editorial Board, has told me that some of the topics under consideration are:

	The importance of collaboration and referral to a major, multidisciplinary sarcoma center
	The importance of the molecular scalpel
	Adults with definitively pediatric sarcomas should be treated on pediatric protocols
	The pragmatic (and utilitarian) approach to the surgical margin
	Oligo-institutional cooperative trials in sarcoma
	Stringent diagnosis via molecular assays is critical to improving the quality of sarcoma treatment

We are initiating a “CTOS Counterpoint” column to allow readers to express their opinions in response to the CTOS Op Ed pieces.

I am also pleased to tell you that we are launching a new, regular column, “From a Nurse’s Perspective” in February 2007. Denise Reinke, a nurse practitioner with significant experience with sarcoma patients and oncologists, is heading up this effort. You can read about her plans for this column in this issue.

We will continue to publish articles dealing with specific sarcomas articles and articles of general interest, as well as the Op Ed pieces and our regular columns. Here is a sampling of some of the articles that are either currently in the pipeline or will be in the pipeline during 2007:

	Cancer Epidemiology in Older Adolescents and Young Adults, Crystal Mackall, M.D., NIH
	Cytarabine for the Treatment of Ewing Sarcoma, Steven DuBois, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
	Targeted Virotherapy for Leiomyosarcoma using Replication-conditional and Attenuated Herpes Simplex Virus, Katsuhito Takahashi, M.D., Ph.D., Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, Japan
	The Hereditary Basis of Sarcomas – Biology and Clinical Features, David Malkin, M.D. Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
	The State of the Early Detection and Diagnosis of Sarcomas, Ernest Conrad, M.D., Sarcoma Service, University of Washington
	Novel Approaches to an Old Tumor: Molecular Targeting of Ewing's Sarcoma, Jeffrey A. Toretsky, M.D., Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
	Leiomyosarcoma of Bone and Soft Tissues, Michael Weaver, MD John Abraham, M.D., Dana-Farber Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center
	Leiomyosarcoma of the Uterus: a Review. Sue Ghosh, M.D., Tanaz R. Ferzandi, M.D., MA, Christopher S. Awtrey, M.D., Gynecologic Oncology, Beth Israel Deacones Medical Center and Harvard Medical School
	On the Horizon: Gene and Virus Therapies for Sarcomas, Timothy P. Cripe, M.D., Ph.D., Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
	GIST, Chandrajit Raut, M.D. and George Demetri, M.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
	Chronic Health Conditions in Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer, Crystal Mackall, M.D., NIH

We are also entering into 2007 with an expanded Medical Editorial Board and the recently formed Sarcoma Advocacy Advisory Committee:

Medical Editorial Board

	Karen Albritton, M.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
	Laurence Baker, D.O., Southwest Oncology Group and SARC
	Jean-Yves Blay, M.D., Ph.D., Université Claude Bernard in Lyon, France
	Murray Brennan, M.D., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
	Mark Gebhardt, M.D., Harvard University, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
	Mary Louise Keohan, M.D., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
	Crystal Mackall, M.D., National Cancer Institute
	Ole Steen Nielsen, M.D., University of Aarhus in Aarhus, Denmark
	R. Lor Randall, M.D., University of Utah, Huntsman Cancer Institute
	Denise Reinke, MS, NP, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and SARC
	Leonard Wexler, M.D., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Sarcoma Advocacy Advisory Committee

	Deborah Buks
	Rose Burt
	MiMi Olsson
	Patricia Smith
	Mary Sorens
	Jennifer Weir

I want to thank them, the volunteers who work on the ESUN staff, and all of the referees who freely give their time to reviewing submissions made to ESUN over the past three years. Needless to say, it’s going to be quite an exciting year for ESUN in 2007.

I will close by mentioning that I gave a talk about ESUN and the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative in the Patient Advocacy Groups session of the CTOS meeting that was held in the first week of November in Venice, Italy. The presentation which also describes our Research Grants program and serves as an Annual Report for the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative, can be downloaded from the Our Initiatives column of this issue.

Please feel free to send me any feedback about any issues that you'd like us to consider.

Best to you and yours in the New Year,

Bruce D. Shriver, PhD

Editor-in-Chief, ESUN