Rare Cancers: Challenges for Cancer Prevention and Treatment

Recently a workshop was held on Rare Cancers to discuss the issues and challenges associated with rare cancers and to facilitate collaborations among the participants. Approximately 200 participants including scientists, clinicians, industry, government, and patient advocates met for the workshop. The day and a half workshop was structured with plenary sessions for the first half-day followed by three Breakout Groups for facilitating discussions among the participants. The Breakout Groups were divided into the following areas: A) Building a Knowledge Base – Biology, Epidemiology, and Etiology; B) Facilitating Clinical Studies in Rare Cancers; and C) Development of New Detection, Prevention Methods/Strategies, and Therapies. On the second day, the moderators of each Breakout Groups presented a summary for discussion to all participants. All three Breakout Groups identified similar issues and challenges in the study of rare cancers and common themes for addressing these challenges. This report outlines the outcome of this workshop and the recommendations provided by the participants of this workshop.