Strategies to reduce the cancer burden and improve access to effective and affordable cancer interventions in Europe

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai

Strategies are proposed to lessen the cancer burden across Europe by improving clinical development and access to effective, affordable interventions. The paper argues that rising drug and cell-therapy costs often deliver only small gains in survival and health-related quality of life, so bold, innovative trials are required. It emphasizes validating initiatives—such as stop studies, dose reduction, combination and repurposing trials—in academia-initiated research supported by societal funds, with attention to pediatric and rare adult cancers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

1. Introduction

Box 1. The Questions

POLICY PAPER Strategies to reduce the cancer burden and improve access to effective and affordable cancer interventions in Europe Anton Berns 1,2 , Ulrik Ringborg 1,3, Julio Celis 1, Bengt J€onsson 1,4 and Michael Baumann 1,5 1 European Academy of Cancer Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden 2 Division of Molecular Genetics, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 3 Cancer Center Karolinska, Karolinska University Hospital Solna, Stockholm, Sweden 4 Department of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden 5 German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany Keywords affordability; comprehensive cancer centre; EU Cancer Mission; funding; health-related quality of life; PI-initiated clinical trials Correspondence A. Berns, European Academy of Cancer Sciences; Division of Molecular Genetics, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, Amsterdam 1066CX, The Netherlands E-mail: [a.berns@nki.nl](a.berns@nki.nl) (Received 25 February 2025, revised 22 April 2025, accepted 9 May 2025, available online 21 May 2025) doi:10 . 1002/1878-0261 .70058 The development of new anticancer treatments, their clinical evaluation and introduction into the healthcare system need improvement. New drugs and cell therapies often come with signiﬁcant costs for society while only marginally improving patients’ survival and health-related quality-of-life. Therefore, bold, innovative clinical trials with critical assessment of the efﬁcacy and cost-effectiveness of new preventive measures and medical treatments are needed to ensure that patients and society beneﬁt. Drug development programmes controlled by pharma should be complemented with initiatives such as stop studies, dose reduction, combination andrepurposing trials. These should be validated in academia-initiated trials supported by societal funds. Special attention should be devoted to paediatric and rare adult cancers. Comprehensive Cancer Centres (CCCs) covering the entire cancer research continuum, present throughout the EU, are critical for this. More of such centres must be established concomitantly with a robust accreditation methodology to ensure that they meet appropriate quality standards. It is crucial that funding for these initiatives, now temporarily and partially provided by the EU Cancer Mission and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, is secured for a much longer period. 1. Introduction The European Academy of Cancer Sciences (EACS), a community of cancer experts, organised a one-day meeting with eight European cancer charities, representing a network for funding cancer research with direct links to research institutes, ministries, policymakers and patient organisations at the Member State level, to discuss shortcomings in the current cancer research landscape in the European Union (EU) and how these might be tackled. Cancer is a rising problem in the EU as well as globally, with increasing challenges to effectively translate new biological knowledge into better treatments and make these widely accessible Abbreviations CCC, Comprehensive Cancer Centre (integrated basic, translational and clinical research); CCCoE, Comprehensive Cancer Centre of Excellence; CraNE, Joint Action to establish an EU network of Comprehensive Cancer Centres; EACS, European Academy of Cancer Sciences; EBCP, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan; EMA, European Medicines Authority; EU, European Union; EUnetCCC, European Network of Comprehensive Cancer Centres; FDA, Food and Drug Administration; HRQoL, health-related quality of life; MoC, EU Mission on Cancer; OECI, Organisation of European Cancer Institutes; PFS, progression free survival; QALY, quality adjusted life years; SPC, supplementary protection certiﬁcate. Molecular Oncology 19 (2025) 1553–1560 ª 2025 The Author(s) . Molecular Oncology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Federation of European Biochemical Societies. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Com

FAQs

Why are new anticancer treatment development and implementation processes considered insufficient in Europe?

The paper notes that new drugs and cell therapies are costly for society while often improving survival and health-related quality of life only marginally, so the clinical and healthcare-system integration needs improvement.

What trial approaches are suggested to complement pharma-driven drug development?

It recommends initiatives such as stop studies, dose reduction, combination and repurposing trials, validated through academia-initiated trials supported by societal funds.

What role do Comprehensive Cancer Centres (CCCs) play, and what must be ensured?

CCCs covering the full cancer research continuum across the EU are described as critical. They should be established alongside a robust accreditation methodology to meet appropriate quality standards.

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai