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The Belgian Head & Neck Oncology Cooperative Group (BHNOCG), formerly known as FNRS Head and Neck, has for more than thirty years brought together French-speaking Belgian specialists dedicated to the management of head and neck cancers. Founded in 1994 at the initiative of Prof. Marc Hamoir (Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc) and Prof. Guy Andry (Institut Jules Bordet), the group was built around a clear ambition: to unite experts from various disciplines – ENT, maxillofacial surgery, radiotherapy, radiology, nuclear medicine, pathology, and medical oncology – with the goal of sharing expertise and improving the quality of care.

From the outset, the BHNOCG distinguished itself by its determination to overcome institutional and geographical boundaries: (non-)academics, Brussels-based and Walloon specialists. All were invited to contribute to improving the management of a particularly complex malignancy. For more than twenty years, two annual meetings nurtured scientific dialogue and fostered clinical and research synergies. The group gained international recognition by organizing the EHNS ECHNO-ICHNO congress in Brussels in 2021 (adapted to a virtual format due to the pandemic).

The Covid-19 crisis unfortunately caused a sudden halt, sending the group into hibernation. Yet the needs remained: continuous training, exchange of practices, scientific collaborations, and representation on the (inter)national stage. In 2023, the founders passed the torch to a new generation, under the patronage of Prof. Jean-Pascal Machiels (Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc). Dr. Stéphanie Henry (CHU UCL Namur) took on the presidency, supported by Dr. Antoine Digonnet (Institut Jules Bordet) as vice-president, with the mission of reviving and uniting the community.

This revival took shape in May 2025 during a meeting at Erasme Hospital, which gathered a hundred participants both onsite and online. The event, marked by Prof. Machiels’ keynote lecture and multidisciplinary clinical case presentations, illustrated the collaborative spirit of the BHNOCG. A new dynamic has emerged: the next meeting is scheduled for December 2025 in Charleroi (HUMANI), while international collaborations are being reinforced, notably with the Dutch-speaking WWHNT group and the EU-ROBOT 2026 congress in Leuven.

Today, the BHNOCG defines itself as a living platform for meeting, sharing, and reflection, faithful to its founding objective: to unite forces to improve the management of head and neck cancers and to give practitioners visibility in this field. More than a scientific group, it is a collective adventure, open to all those who wish to contribute with their ideas, clinical cases, and research, in a spirit of collaboration, openness, and excellence in the service of patients.