The 10th ESO–SIOPE Masterclass consolidates SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital as an international meeting point in paediatric oncology
Specialists from 20 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Middle East have taken part in Barcelona in the 10th edition of the ESO–SIOPE Masterclass in Paediatric Oncology, an international advanced training programme focused on the analysis of complex clinical cases and updates on innovative therapies for childhood cancer.
SJD Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona (PCCB) hosted the 10th edition of the ESO–SIOPE Masterclass in Paediatric Oncology from 12th to 15th March. Organised together with the European School of Oncology (ESO) and the European Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOPE), the event turned Barcelona into a hub for scientific exchange among international specialists for three days.
The masterclass was structured around interactive tumour boards, where participants presented real clinical cases for discussion with international experts, encouraging debate and consensus-based decision-making in highly complex situations. Sessions covered the main areas of paediatric oncology — leukaemias and lymphomas, central nervous system tumours, neuroblastoma, sarcomas, nephrogenic tumours and rare tumours — and highlighted inequalities in access to childhood cancer care across Europe, as well as the role of advanced therapies such as immunotherapy and CAR-T treatments in relapsed cases.
“Discussing complex clinical cases is a routine part of training at Sant Joan de Déu. Tumour boards at our hospital began in 2002 and are held weekly to support decision-making in real patients; in 2009, a molecular tumour board was also introduced. Case discussions are a highly valued format and the best way to offer patients a treatment decision agreed upon by all experts,” explains Jaume Mora, Scientific Director of the PCCB.
Beyond the scientific discussions, the programme also included workshops on communication with patients and families, palliative care, and supportive care, reinforcing the importance of a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to treating childhood cancer.
Guillermo Chantada, Director of the PCCB Outreach Program, highlights that “special emphasis was placed on access to new treatments from a global medicine perspective, within the framework of the World Health Organization’s Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer.”
The Barcelona edition featured Guillermo Chantada and Jaume Mora as local Host Chairs, responsible for scientific coordination together with the international committee. It brought together a distinguished faculty linked to SIOPE and to several of Europe’s leading paediatric oncology centres, including Andishe Attarbaschi (Austria), Andrea Ferrari (Italy), Carmelo Rizzari (Italy), Norbert Graf (Germany), Leo Kager (Austria), Gianni Bisogno (Italy), Bob Phillips (United Kingdom) and Thomas Lehrnbecher (Germany).
SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital, the only centre in Spain in ESO’s Paediatric Fellowship Programme
The organisation of this Masterclass is part of the collaboration agreement between SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital and the European School of Oncology (ESO) within the ESO Clinical Training Centres programme, in place since December 2024. This agreement recognises the hospital’s capacity to provide advanced clinical training in a highly specialised environment and strengthens its role within the European network of excellence in paediatric oncology.
Within the Paediatric Fellowship Programme, ESO currently has only six accredited centres across Europe. The SJD Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona (PCCB) is one of them and the only centre in Spain included in this network. “The PCCB maintains close links with European paediatric oncology training centres and actively participates in initiatives together with the European Society for Paediatric Oncology. This masterclass reflects that interaction,” notes Guillermo Chantada.
Beyond this meeting, the hospital promotes training programmes at multiple levels, from fellowships to virtual continuing education and translational research. Through the TeLeo programme, Sant Joan de Déu also offers free online clinical case discussions for centres across Latin America, an initiative in which more than 400 paediatric oncologists in training have already participated.
The organisation of the 10th ESO–SIOPE Masterclass at the PCCB further consolidates the international projection of SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital and its commitment to clinical excellence, research and specialised training in childhood cancer.