ESMO 2025: Gastric and gastroesophageal cancer insights for clinical practice

Markus Moehler is Head of GI Oncology, at Mainz University Clinic. After studies at Heidelberg, Germany and Yeshiva University, New York, and MD supervised by Nobel Prize laureate Prof. Drs. H. zur Hausen, he was 2-years-postDoc at the German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.

He received his Degree of Internal Medicine (2003) and his ESMO Certificate (2003). In February 2005 he achieved his PhD and became Junior Professor and Gastroenterologist, as well as Senior Consultant for Gastroenterology and Gastrointestinal Oncology.

Apart from German associations (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Internistische Onkologie (AIO), DGVS, DGHO), he has been an active member and past chair of the EORTC GI group, active member of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) for more than 20 years.

Over the past 20 years, he has been principal investigator (PI) on numerous national and international innovative phase I-III clinical studies. Currently he is PI on many international clinical studies, particularly on new targeted and immune therapeutic agents

Elizabeth (Lizzy) Smyth is a consultant in gastrointestinal oncology. Dr Smyth commenced her oncology training in Dublin, Ireland. In 2009 she was awarded a fellowship from the Irish Society of Medical Oncology to train at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Centre, New York. Following this, she worked at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London from 2011-2018. Her research focus is on clinical trials and translational research in gastroesophageal cancer, and she has worked on trial design and management of national and international trials. She is a member of the European Society for Medical Oncology GI Faculty and leads the EORTC GI Trials Group Gastric Cancer Taskforce. Dr Smyth is committed to furthering national and international collaboration in GI trials research.

Aziz Zaanan, MD, PhD, is a GI oncologist at the European Georges Pompidou Hospital and full Professor in Gastroenterology at the University of Paris Cité, France.

After training as a medical student at the University of Marseille, France, Professor Zaanan completed his residency (Internat) in Paris and attained his medical degree in 2008. In 2013, he completed a post-doctoral research fellow at Mayo Clinic Rochester for one year. He was working on molecular subtyping of colorectal cancer and its implication for prognosis and treatment. Dr Zaanan is Associate Editor of  the journals Cancers,  Frontiers in Oncology and Clinics and Research in Hepatology and Gastroenterology. Furthermore, he has authored numerous abstracts at international congresses and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles.

Dr Zaanan is a member of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), and French gastrointestinal cooperative groups and societies, including the PRODIGE intergroup, the Fédération Francophone de Cancérologie Digestive (FFCD) and the Société Nationale Française de Gastro-Entérologie (SNFGE). He was the chairman the AGEO French research group on GI tumours.

Dr Zaanan’s scientific focus is on clinical and translational research in gastrointestinal tract cancers, and in particular in upper GI cancers and MSI tumors.