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Publication - Strategies to decrease inequalities in cancer therapeutics, care and prevention
Read the meeting report - Strategies to decrease inequalities in cancer therapeutics, care and prevention. Proceedings on a conference organized by the Pontifical Academy ofSciences and the European Academy of Cancer Sciences, VaticanCity, February 23–24, 2024 in press in Molecular Oncology
Abstract: Analyses of inequalities related to prevention and cancer therapeutics/careshow disparities between countries with different economic standing, andwithin countries with high Gross Domestic Product. The development of basictechnological and biological research provides clinical and prevention oppor-tunities that make their implementation into healthcare systems more complex,mainly due to the growth of Personalized/Precision Cancer Medicine (PCM).Initiatives like the USA-Cancer Moonshot and the EU-Mission on Cancerand Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan are initiated to boost cancer preventionand therapeutics/care innovation and to mitigate present inequalities. The con-ference organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in collaboration withthe European Academy of Cancer Sciences discussed the inequality problem,dependent on the economic status of a country, the increasing demands forinfrastructure supportive of innovative research and its implementation inhealthcare and prevention programs. Establishing translational researchdefined as a coherent cancer research continuum is still a challenge. Researchhas to cover the entire continuum from basic to outcomes research for clinicaland prevention modalities. Comprehensive Cancer Centres (CCCs) are of criti-cal importance for integrating research innovations to preclinical and clinicalresearch, as for ensuring state-of-the-art patient care within healthcare sys-tems. International collaborative networks between CCCs are necessary toreach the critical mass of infrastructures and patients for PCM research, andfor introducing prevention modalities and new treatments effectively. Out-comes and health economics research are required to assess the cost-effectiveness of new interventions, currently a missing element in the researchportfolio. Data sharing and critical mass are essential for innovative researchto develop PCM. Despite advances in cancer research, cancer incidence andprevalence is growing. Making cancer research infrastructures accessible for allpatients, considering the increasing inequalities, requires science policy actionsincentivizing research aimed at prevention and cancer therapeutics/care withan increased focus on patients’ needs and cost-effective healthcare.