Abstract
We have reached a watershed moment in Europe in our efforts to ensure increased survival and better outcomes for cancer patients. The EU Cancer Mission and the European Beating Cancer Plan together provide an unrivalled opportunity to make significant inroads into a disease that kills over 1.7 million European citizens annually. Harnessing these twin pillars of cancer research and cancer control can be transformative for the European cancer community and in particular for the European cancer patient. However, from a research perspective, in order to fully realise these benefits, we need to ensure that all aspects of the cancer continuum are addressed. Previous research efforts have focussed more on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, whereas cancer survivorship, to date, has been overlooked. Here, we aim to redress this balance, by identifying the key challenges in cancer survivorship research that need to be addressed and proposing a series of recommended solutions, which, if acted upon, would deliver significant benefits for the nearly 20 million cancer survivors in Europe. To achieve this, we propose the development of a clearly articulated and sustainably funded European Cancer Survivorship Research and Innovation Plan. Embedding this plan within the framework of the EU Cancer Mission would be transformative for cancer survivors and society.
Highlights
Despite the undoubted progress that has been made in improving cancer control and increasing cancer survivorship over the last 50 years, the significant challenges that still persist across the cancer continuum have led to a renewed global focus on a disease that kills over 10 million citizens worldwide each year
We build on the previous work of the European Academy of Cancer Sciences that identified a comprehensive evidence base and indicated the absolute need to ensure that cancer survivorship research is recognised as a critical component of the overall cancer research activity in Europe
We articulate the key challenges from a medical, socioeconomic and politico-legal perspective that need to be recognised and addressed, in order to ensure that cancer survivorship research and innovation are firmly embedded within the European cancer research agenda
Summary
Despite the undoubted progress that has been made in improving cancer control and increasing cancer survivorship over the last 50 years, the significant challenges that still persist across the cancer continuum have led to a renewed global focus on a disease that kills over 10 million citizens worldwide each year. Molecular Oncology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Federation of European Biochemical Societies. The ageing population demographic, allied to genomic, environmental and lifestyle factors that will contribute to an increased incidence of cancer in the 15– 20 years, together with the challenges of treating the disease as it becomes more aggressive, mean that cancer and its control must be the critical focus for research and innovation implementation, health service delivery and health policy efforts over the coming years
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