It is with deep sadness that we mark the passing of Martine Van Glabbeke (1951–2026), who died on 16 April 2026. She was a senior biostatistician whose work helped shape the scientific backbone of modern cancer‑clinical‑trial research. For more than three decades, she was a leading figure at the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), where she became a key architect of rigorous academic cancer‑clinical‑research methodology. Her legacy lies in the sophisticated, patient‑centred trial designs she pioneered designs that have influenced oncology trials around the world and in the generations of oncologists and statisticians she mentored along the way.
Professional Life and Scientific Impact
Martine Van Glabbeke devoted 36 years of her career to the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), where she became best known for her deep involvement in the EORTC Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma Group. Her work anchored the group’s clinical trials, ensuring that their designs were both scientifically sound and clinically relevant, so that the evidence generated could directly improve patient care.
Her methodological contributions were foundational. She helped define meaningful endpoints and tumour‑response assessment criteria in sarcoma and other cancer trials, many of which became practice‑changing in oncology. Her careful thinking about which measures truly mattered to patients and clinicians helped align trial results with real‑world treatment decisions. She also shaped how oncologists and statisticians collaborate in cooperative groups, clarifying the role of randomization, sample‑size calculation, and data analysis within complex, multi‑centre trials.
Beyond EORTC, her frameworks and criteria were adopted by other academic and cooperative‑trial networks, influencing the design of oncology trials worldwide. Her rigor and clarity set a standard that many research groups now strive to emulate, ensuring that her impact extends well beyond the projects she personally supervised.
Teaching and Mentorship
Martine Van Glabbeke was a long‑time pillar of the Methods in Clinical Cancer Research workshop, where she trained generations of young oncologists and statisticians in the principles of robust trial design and critical data interpretation. Her lectures and one‑on‑one guidance helped bridge the gap between the clinic and the statistics room, turning complex methodological concepts into practical tools for everyday research.
Colleagues consistently describe her as generous, rigorous, and empathetic, someone who never dismissed a “silly question” and always made time to guide junior researchers through their first protocols or analyses. Trainees remember her not only for her intellectual precision but also for her encouraging tone and willingness to sit with them until a trial design finally “made sense.” In this way, she built bridges between clinical questions and statistical soundness, ensuring that patient‑centred care and methodological integrity advanced together.
Legacy and Ongoing Influence
Martine Van Glabbeke’s methodological work continues to underpin current and future EORTC trials, with her frameworks and standards embedded in how the organisation designs, analyses, and reports its research. Her influence is visible wherever cooperative‑group trials rely on clear endpoints, thoughtful randomization, and transparent data‑analysis plans.
Her mentorship lives on in the growing cohort of oncologists and statisticians who now lead or contribute to high‑quality, evidence‑based trials across Europe and beyond. Many of them carry forward her ethos of precision, humility, and collaboration between clinical and quantitative thinking.
In her memory, we continue to champion methodologically rigorous, patient‑centred cancer trials honouring her legacy by turning every question into a better trial, and every trial into a step closer to better outcomes for patients.
“On behalf of the OncoDaily editorial board, we extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Martine Van Glabbeke. Her rigorous science and quiet mentorship will remain a quiet but enduring force in oncology research.”
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Written by Aharon Tsaturyan, MD, Editor at OncoDaily Intelligence Unit