To mark World Cancer Day, the European Commission has announced it’s to launch a new initiative to fight cancer in the EU by the end of the year. Cancer is behind 26% of deaths in the bloc every year.
The European Commission announced the launch of the “Europe’s Beating Cancer” plan, Europe’s latest initiative in the fight against cancer.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that the bloc will present a comprehensive action plan by the end of 2020, aimed at stopping cancer deaths in the EU by 2040.
“This is our goal. We have to step up and work hard for it. But there’s a lot of things we can do together,” she said.
At the launch event, she touted the use of artificial intelligence as a technology that could improve early detection measures, and stressed the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
The first step of the plan is to consult doctors, scientists, patients, advocacy groups and political leaders to identify goals and methods, before rolling out concrete proposals later this year.
Around 1.6 million people died of cancer in the bloc in 2016, according to data shared by EU statistics agency Destatis on Tuesday, accounting for 26% of all EU deaths.
Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, which will be presented before the end of this year, will propose actions at every key stage of the disease:
Prevention measures: Prevention is the easiest and most effective way of reducing cancer in the EU. Measures on prevention could include improved access to healthy diets and vaccination coverage; measures to reduce environmental risk factors such as pollution and exposure to chemicals; research and awareness raising.
Early detection and diagnosis: Measures to improve the chance of a better health outcome through early diagnosis could include increasing the coverage of the target population for cancer screening; increased use of digital solutions and technical support to Member States.
Treatment and care: Measures to improving outcomes of cancer care and treatment could include improving the access to high-quality treatment and uptake of new therapies; measures to ensure the availability and affordability of essential medicines; innovation and research.
Quality of life: Measures to ensure the best possible quality of life for cancer patients, survivors and carers could include measures to improve professional re-integration; prevent discrimination; the provision of palliative care and transfers of best practice.
Meanwhile, researchers at UT Southwestern Simmons Cancer Center recently discovered a drug combination that is designed to stop the growth of cancer cells. In this context, a drug already on the market is expected to counteract resistance to a promising new cancer drug that is currently in clinical trials.
Cancer researchers at the University of Bergen in Norway tested hundreds of different drugs over several years to see how they affect cancer cells. They found that a drug used to fight parasites, like tapeworms and giardia, contains the substance NTZ (nitazoxanide), which acts like a tailor-made medicine against prostate and colon cancer.
“We discovered that this specific substance blocks the signaling pathway in cancer cells and causes them to stop growing,” said Karl-Henning Kalland from the Department of Clinical Sciences at UiB.
It is not often that researchers discover a substance that targets certain molecules as precisely as this one. A recent study confirms the researchers’ findings with regard to brain tumors (glioblastoma multiforme) — but also points to the need for further investigation.
