The European School of Oncology (ESO) announced the preliminary Global mBC Vision 2025 Call-to-Action, a collaboration between ESO and Pfizer, to improve and extend the lives of patients with advanced/metastatic breast cancer (ABC/mBC) around the world by 2025 at the 15th St Gallen International Breast Cancer Conference in Vienna, Austria.

This Call-to-Action is intended to unite the global mBC community by catalysing change to improve patient outcomes within the next decade.

To do so, the Call-to-Action details 10 key gaps and actionable imperatives across patient care, societal support and scientific investment for mBC.

This Call-to-Action is the first step in a new initiative -- The ABC Global Charter -- that will drive finalisation and implementation of the Call-to-Action's distinct goals.

The gaps addressed in the Call-to-Action were first identified through the Global Status of Advanced/Metastatic Breast Cancer 2005-2015 Decade Report, which was the first comprehensive global assessment of ABC/mBC across the care continuum, as well as political, economic, societal and scientific landscapes.

The Pfizer-commissioned report revealed areas of improvement as well as substantial gaps in care, access to resources, support, and treatment outcomes for patients with mBC.

This report laid the foundation for the collaboration between ESO and Pfizer that fostered the development of the preliminary mBC Vision 2025 Call-to-Action.

With the launch of the Call-to-Action, The ABC Global Charter initiative will now be driven forward by The ABC Global Alliance to encourage the entire breast cancer community and the global public to work alongside each other to help change the future of breast cancer around the world.

For more information on the Call-to-Action, please click here.

Although much progress has been made in the diagnosis, management and outcomes of early breast cancer, such improvements have been slower for people living with mBC.

It is estimated that over half a million breast cancer deaths occurred worldwide in 2015, primarily from mBC.

By 2030, the number of deaths attributable to mBC is estimated to reach over 800,000, demonstrating a 43% increase in absolute number in 15 years. 

The imperatives outlined in the Call-to-Action will be furthered by The ABC Global Alliance, an ESO-led multi-stakeholder platform that was formed in 2016 for organisations to collaborate on projects aimed at improving the lives and extending survival of ABC/mBC patients.

The initiative will be finally launched as The ABC Global Charter at the ABC4 meeting in Lisbon in November 2017.

"The Global Status Decade Report revealed substantial and worrying gaps in care, access to resources, support and treatment outcomes for patients," said Fatima Cardoso, director of the breast unit, Champalimaud Clinical Centre, Lisbon, Portugal and chair of the ABC Global Alliance and the mBC Vision 2025 Taskforce. "This Call-to-Action is a first step in addressing these gaps. However, to succeed in activating programmes that make a real difference in ABC/mBC, we need to transition the mBC Vision 2025 Call-to-Action to a global multi-stakeholder platform that is dedicated to transforming the call-to-action into reality. The initiative will therefore move forward as The ABC Global Charter, for which The ABC Global Alliance will seek input and support from its members to help achieve the core goals." "We are proud to join global leaders in the metastatic breast cancer community to help address the multidimensional challenges patients with this disease face around the world," said Liz Barrett, president and general manager, Pfizer Oncology. "Building on the seminal Global Decade Report, we are excited to collaborate with ESO in supporting the Call-to-Action, which reflects our ongoing commitment to improving the lives of patients with mBC."

Source: European School Of Oncology