Advancing the Precision Oncology Agenda in Europe

On 15 Oct. 2024, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) published an article to raise industry awareness that the European Union (EU) is developing a roadmap to advance precision oncology at the country level to address the growing burden of cancer in Europe (1). Cancer remains the second biggest cause of death in Europe. In 2024, the predicted mortality cancer rates are forecast to fall by 6.5% in men and by 4.3% in women in the EU (based on data from the five most populous countries and the United Kingdom). However, the number of deaths is still rising, with a total of 1,270,800 predicted deaths in 2024 in the EU and 172,900 in the UK, due to population growth and ageing (2).

New therapies, along with advances in prevention, screening, radiotherapy, and surgery are helping to save lives, but further collaboration, and partnership are needed. The “#WeWontRest until we beat cancer” campaign is underway (3). On 13 Nov. 2024, the EFPIA Oncology Platform organized a stakeholder roundtable in Brussels to bring together EFPIA member companies—AbbVie, Amgen, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK, Ipsen, Johnson & Johnson, Lilly, Novartis, MSD, Menarini, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Servier, and Takeda—to help define future legislative and policy directions to improve the provision of personalized treatment for cancer patients (4).

The event was hosted by the Committee of the Regions, with scientific support from the European Regional and Local Health Authorities (EUREGHA) and Cancer Patients Europe, and aims to bring together stakeholders—policymakers, regional health authorities, patient advocates, and healthcare providers—to explore the challenges to improve access to precision oncology to ensure optimal and timely treatment and overcome healthcare disparities across Europe.

EC Beating Cancer Plan 2021 and beyond

The EU has been developing policies to move toward personalized medicine (PM) and has made significant investments starting in 2010. As of 2017, €3.2 billion was invested in PM research across the medical innovation cycle ‘from bench to bedside’ from the research framework programs FP7 and Horizon 2020 (5).

In 2021, the European Commission (EC) published its cancer plan for Europe outlining several goals to reverse the rising trend of cancer across the EU (Figure 1). Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan was the EU’s response to medical needs and aims to tackle the entire disease pathways from prevention, early detection, diagnosis, and treatment, as well as the quality of life of the cancer patients and survivors (6).

EU initiatives in precision medicine in Europe

Many EU initiatives are underway to advance precision medicine in Europe. On 11. Sept. 2024, the Thematic Network on Advancing Precision Medicine for Europe’s Cancer Patients with artificial intelligence (AI)-powered Imaging held a webinar led by the European Society of Radiology to discuss with health stakeholders how AI-powered cancer care can improve personalized treatment strategies and reduce the burden of cancer (7).

Meanwhile, the Digital Oncology Network for Europe (DigiONE) pilot is underway in Europe. An amount of €3 million has been allocated for technology investment in a proof-of-concept learning health system in a precision oncology platform that aims to identify optimal cancer treatments by learning from every patient, not just those in clinical trials, through privacy-preserving interrogation of their standardized routine electronic health records (8,9).

Roadmap for a European cancer data management and precision medicine infrastructure

Aside from the goals laid out in Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan stakeholders recognize that for European citizens to have access to innovative precision medicines there is a need to develop a gold-standard cancer data management system. This will rely on three key elements: adopting standardized data formats; ensuring robust data privacy; educating professionals about the infrastructure’s benefits and leveraging cutting-edge technologies to transform cancer care (10).

Further work is needed to refine the EU roadmap on precision oncology but significant steps have already been taken to put in place the framework to reverse the rising trend of cancer across the EU. Stakeholders should keep abreast of the situation and can access details of the advancing precision oncology agenda in the EU online, via the EFPIA (11).

References

1. EFPIA. Advancing the Precision Oncology Agenda in the EU: Developing a Roadmap at Country Level to Address the Growing Burden of Cancer in Europe. Guest Blog. 15 Oct. 2024.
2. Santucci, C.; Mignozzi, S.; Malvezzi, M.; et al. European Cancer Mortality Predictions for the Year 2024 with a Focus on Colorectal Cancer. Ann. Oncol., 2024 35 (3) 308–316.
3. EFPIA. #WeWontRest Until We Beat Cancer. EFPIA.eu, Accessed 22 Oct. 2024.
4. EFPIA. Advancing the Precision Oncology Agenda in the EU. Brussels, Belgium. 13. Nov. 2024.
5. Nimmesgern, E.; Norstedt, I.; Draghia-Akli, R. Enabling Personalized Medicine in Europe by the European Commission‘s Funding Activities. Per Med. 2017 14 (4) 355–365.
6. European Commission. Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. Communication Paper, 2021.
7. Nikolski, M.; Hovig, E.; Al-Shahrour, F.; et al. Roadmap for a European Cancer Data Management and Precision Medicine Infrastructure. Nat Cancer20245, 367–372.
8. Mahon, P.; Chatzitheofilou, I.; Dekker, A.; et al. A Federated Learning System for Precision Oncology in Europe: DigiONE. Nat Med2024 30, 334–337.
9. Nahon. P. Building a Digital Oncology Network for Europe (DigiOne) The Digital Institute for Cancer Outcome Research (DigiCore). OECI.eu, Accessed 22 Oct. 2024.
10. European Commission. Recording—EUHPP Live Webinar—How to Advance Precision Medicine for Europe’s Cancer Patients with AI-powered Imaging (11 September 2024). News Announcement, 11 Sep. 2024.
11. EFPIA. Advancing the Precision Oncology Agenda in the EU. 13 Nov. 2024

About the author

Cheryl Barton is director of Pharmavision, info@pharmavision.co.uk.

Article details

Pharmaceutical Technology Europe
Vol. 36, No. 10
November/December 2024
Pages: 9–10

Citation

When referring to this article, please cite it as Barton, C. Advancing the Precision Oncology Agenda in Europe. Pharmaceutical Technology Europe, 2024, 36 (10), 9–10.