A call for National Cancer Plans (NCPs) to be active in all EU Member States by next year, rang out at a high-level personalised medicine conference in Brussels. 

And NCPs must empower patients and place them at the centre of their own treatment decisions, the conference was told.

Speaking at the Brussels-based European Alliance for Personalised Medicine’s Presidency conference, prostate cancer patient representative Louis Denis said: “These NCPs are now in place in most European Union countries and I would very much hope that, by the time we meet again at the next EAPM conference in 2016, all Member States will have cancer plans up and running.”

Mr Denis added: “We all know what a terrible disease cancer is and its impact on those who suffer from the disease, and on the people around them. The sheer size of the issue is devastating. And while we have come a long way in tackling cancer, the disease still claims the lives of well over one million European Union citizens every year – even in this personalised medicine era.”

The conference heard that the use of new molecular and diagnostic technologies, to look at the genetic profile and biomarkers of diseases, opens new pathways to match each patient with the treatment regimen that may give them the best results.

This focus on the genetic profile of diseases is a key factor for a new approach in science and medical care – namely, personalised medicine.

Mr Denis said that: “Creating a personalised cancer screening and treatment plan that will complement existing plans should determine the chances that a person will develop cancer and select screening strategies to lower the risk, match patients with treatments that are more likely to be effective while causing fewer side effects, and predict the risk of the cancer returning.

He added that doctors, nurses, pharmacists and many other professionals who work in the Member States’ health systems are key partners if these goals are to be reached.

What are needed as important drivers, he emphasised,  are interdisciplinary networks in which general practitioners, specialists, pathologists, and clinics work together to tailor drug therapies to suit certain patient groups, and in which diagnostics and treatments continue to evolve towards a bespoke fit.

Luxembourg’s Minister for Health, Lydia Mutsch, said at the same conference: “The exciting field of personalised medicine is, and should be, all about the patients. It offers the opportunity for them to be seen not merely as passive recipients of care but as participants, partners and even guides in their own healthcare.

“Involving patients in treatment-related decision making is in line with the increasing acknowledgement of their right to autonomy and self-determination,” the minister added.

Marian Harkin, a Member of the European Parliament, said: “Cancer is the name for a terrible set of diseases that affect millions of citizens and personalised medicine is making a huge contribution to its treatment today. It clearly must be integrated into all Member State NCPs.

“On top of that, this exciting new form of treatment brings with it a new attitude – one that puts an empowered patient at the centre of an entire process that aims to give the right treatment to the right patient at the right time.”

And Parliament member, Cristian-Silviu Busoi MEP, said: “One approach for NCPs is the improvement of patient information with regards to accessibility, reliability and quality, in order to further strengthen patient-orientation in cancer care and to achieve more personalised care.

“Unfortunately, NCPs in Europe are characterised by stark differences in content and implementation status.”

The EAPM conference, held at the Belgian capital’s University Foundation from 2-3 June, ran at the same time as the ASCO Congress – the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

The latter saw many new developments to tackle cancer being presented that will have a positive impact on patients in both the long- and short-terms.

Speaking from the ASCO event in Chicago, Andrew Oxtoby, Vice President, Oncology International Business Unit at Eli Lilly and Company, whose company is responsible for the three-year-old PACE initiative (Patient Access to Cancer care Excellence), said: “I am happy to see this focus on personalised medicine and putting the patient at the centre of treatment decisions; this is definitely a step in the right direction and a key reason we created PACE.” 

PACE is a  global collaboration to encourage public policies and health care decisions that: speed the development of new medicines; assure cancer treatments respond to the needs and qualities of individual patients; and improve patient access to the most effective cancer treatments.”

Oxtoby added that PACE also aims to “strengthen the voice of the patient in HTA decisions,” pointing out that the lack of a patient voice in key decision-making is “an historical problem” that must be corrected.

"Patients have the best knowledge of their own situation and can, in consultation with their physician, prioritise what matters to them most.”

Professor Gordon McVie, meanwhile, who sits on the Global Council for PACE – which is active in several EU countries, most notably the UK, Germany, France, and Italy – said: “There’s no doubt that the PACE initiative is working hard to improve patient influence on, and access to, what matters to them the most.”

Prof McVie added that PACE is geared towards faster, continuous innovation, greater patient access - with patients having a stronger voice – and a fuller understanding of the myths surrounding the nature of cancer, which would improve the quality of health-policy decisions.

“All of this is fundamental in our efforts to create a healthier Europe now and for generations to come,” he said.

Source: EAPM