Page 16 - SRPSKO DRUŠTVO ISTRAŽIVAČA RAKA

SDIRSACR Oncology Insights

The founda on of the Serbian Associa on for Cancer Research

(personal point of view)
Dr Zorica Juranić, Principal Research Fellow (re red)
Ins tute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia
First SDIR President

Exchange of knowledge is of the utmost importance for the progress of science.
This is especially of value for rapidly developing sciences such as medicine, where
many people´s lives depend on the exper se and skills of doctors. Therefore,
there is always a need for organisa ons aiming to exchange ideas and news,
especially in the fi eld in oncology. One of the organisa ons which is ac vely
working in the fi eld of oncology is The European Associa on for Cancer Research
(EACR).

In a le er in 2010, Mr Andrew Binns (at that me the treasurer of EACR) informed
me, as I was already a member of EACR, of the possibility for applica on of
our na onal society to become a member of EACR, whose members already
were at that me na onal socie es of United Kingdom, Spain, Hungary, Croa a,
Netherlands, Sweden, Israel and many other countries. This made me remember
my previous par cipa on in EACR mee ngs. One of them was held in Genova, Dr Zorica Juranić
Italy in 1991, where I was with my esteemed colleages Professor Ivan Spužić and Professor Gordana Konjević,
and where we heard the very interes ng plenary lecture from Professor Olav Hilmar Iversen and had the honour
of presen ng our own results. Then I thought of the EACR mee ng held in Granada, Spain in 2006, which was
characterized by ground-breaking results in cancer research and therapy. Of special importance was the session
chaired by the famous scien st from the Roswell Park Memorial Ins tute, Professor Enrico Mihich (1928-2016),
who, a long me ago in 1985, had published a review paper with completely new insights in cancer research and
therapy; from proper diagnosis of cancer as a set of diff erent biological, hormonal and immunological en es, to
corresponding specifi c therapeu cal modali es. Professor Mihich was one of the fi rst scien sts who emphasized
the importance of personalized approach in therapy of cancer pa ents. Very appropriate text describing Professor’s
Mihich (Henry) research was writen many years later by his colleagues Graham Pawelec and Ostrand-Rosenberg,
describing his approach in learning about cancer which was published in Cancer Immunol Immunother in 2017:

„...At this me, Henry introduced and provided experimental evidence for the counterintui ve idea that las ng
therapeu c eff ects of certain an cancer drugs depend on the drug-induced modula on of immunity against
the tumor. This idea met with a degree of skep cism, because it was “obvious” that chemotherapeu cs were
immunosuppressive—a clear example of a scien fi c paradigm proving very resistant to change, but therea er
following the classic path of new ideas in science and becoming fully accepted as equally as obvious now as it
was ridiculous then. Henry’s tenacity in promulga ng this idea against the resistance of the research community
played a major part in its current acceptance…”

I was happy that I had had the opportunity to meet and speak with this dis nguished, eminent scien st. It was
crucial for me and my future work.
At that moment I thought that it would be important for cancer researchers from Serbia to form our own Serbian
society for cancer research, and aim to become a member of EACR. Then we could apply for funds for younger
researchers for their par cipa ons in scien fi c mee ngs, apply for grants for research Laboratories abroad in
order to learn new methods, or to get funds for the organiza on of na onal society mee ngs.

At this me, in Serbia, the nucleus for cancer research was in the Departement of Experimental and Clinical
Oncology, at the Ins tute of Oncology and Radiology of Serbia (IORS). With the help and ethusiasm of my fellow
physicians and cancer researchers, we founded our Serbian Society for Cancer Research (serbian SDIR: Srpsko
th
Društvo Istraživača Raka) on the 16 of November 2010. Founders of SDIR were: Zorica Juranić, Zora Nešković-
Konstan nović, Tatjana Stanojković, Željko Žižak, Irina Besu Žižak, Sandra Aranđelović, Ivana Ma ć, Emina Mališić,
Aleksandra Erić, Nevenka Gligorijević, Lana Filipović, Tijana Vujasinović, Zaki Abu Rabi, Ksenija Kanjer, Radmila
Janković, Tatjana Srdić-Rajić, Katarina Mirjaćić-Mar nović, Ana Vule ć, Milena Čavić, Siniša Radulović, Milan
Markićević, Gordana Konjević, Nataša Todorović-Raković, Dragica Nikolić-Vukosavljević and Suzana Vasović. And