From Our CEO - Find It Early

 

So much of a person’s cancer journey is dictated by when the disease is discovered. The earlier the diagnosis, the better the outcome. That’s why more – and better –cancer screening has become so critically important, and why The European Cancer Organisation (ECO) has just released its first detailed review of screening policies across the EU.

We know only too well that more than 1 million people in the European Union die of cancer each year, and the numbers are growing. Within five years, by some estimates, cancer will surpass cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death. One of the most cost-effective ways to reverse this trend is through enhanced screening programmes.

That’s the underlying message in this new 63-page report on cancer screening in Europe by ECO’s Prevention, Early Detection and Screening Network. By benchmarking national performance through the European Cancer Screening Policy Index, we can track and compare 29 countries and their progress implementing cancer screening policies, and which ones feature:

• The inclusion of cancer screening in national cancer plans
• The existence of cancer screening registries
• The presence of organised cancer screening programmes and alignment with European guidelines when it comes to target populations, screening intervals and type of test provided
• Progress towards implementing new cancer screening programmes
• Differences in cancer screening participation according to social determinants (education, income and rural/urban differences)

By highlighting differences between countries, the Index – launched by ECO at the European Cancer Summit last week – provides a clear picture of where improvements are needed. It supports the objectives of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan to expand access to effective screening and has already begun to inform national strategies and policy discussions.

The Index, for example, reveals Bulgaria and Romania have the lowest scores in the EU, 26,1% and 34,7%, respectively, which could be related to the absence of population-based cancer screening programmes. In contrast, most other EU countries have established such programmes, contributing to higher scores. This pattern highlights an ongoing asymmetry in screening efforts across Europe, with some countries still in the early stages of implementing structured programmes. Lower national scores point to areas where additional support, capacity-building and resource allocation can help strengthen screening efforts.

For the most part, however, the report finds genuine progress being made across the continent. Much of what ECO recommended to Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan back in 2021 has begun to be implemented.  

What struck me from the report was how many of the simplest interventions are having a significant impact – often the result of local collaborations.  There are new mobile units providing prostate cancer awareness and screening. In just one year, for example, London’s Man Van, operated by The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Cancer Research, saw more than three thousand men at seven locations. Ninety-four prostate cancers were diagnosed, and eighty-one of these – an exceptionally high 86 per cent – were clinically significant, meaning cancers where early detection alters outcomes decisively.

In Greece, a mobile mammography unit travels across the country, providing free screening to vulnerable women, including the long-term unemployed and those facing financial hardships.

The report highlights the often greater benefits and use of self-collection kits to test for cervical cancer. This is of particular benefit to women who live in countries or remote areas with limited services, have a disability, or where there are cultural barriers or previous traumatic experiences.

In Sweden, for example, evidence from a randomised trial of over 10,000 women showed that self-collection achieved participation rates of 34.1% among long-term non-attenders – well above Pap smear.

Going forward, the report provides 12 focused recommendations to European institutions and national governments. You can find the full document here.

And please join us on 16 and 17 February as we gather in Brussels and online for The European Cancer Screening and Early Detection Summit.

With very best wishes,

Elisabetta

Elisabetta Zanon