On the southern outskirts of Milan on Via Ripamonti, the work yard of the future Institute is opened on 4 June.

Peter Boyle, the famous Scottish epidemiologist, begins his research in makeshift rooms and gathers together an international staff.

Alberto Costa, Director of the European School of Oncology and author of the Institute's motto ("treatment is better in research centres") activates the education and training programme, together with the international cooperation plan.

Internationality is one of the Institute’s most important features: its division directors come from eight different countries, and a significant percentage of the clinical staff is foreign.

The “European Institute of Oncology Foundation for Training and the Development of Clinical and Experimental Research” is established. In addition to raising and allocating money, the Foundation is also responsible for managing funds set aside for scholarships commemorating Paolo Baffi and assigning two merit awards named in memory of Cesare Merzagora and Bruno Martinetto, based on the initiatives of the respective families.

The Institute is open to international collaboration with the leading organisations involved in the fight against cancer around the world: EORTC (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer), UICC (Union Internationale Contre le Cancer), Europe against Cancer, the World Health Organization, the European School of Oncology, Institut Gustave Roussy, Royal Brompton Hospital, Istituto Oncologico della Svizzera italiana and Institut Català d’Oncologia.