Fighting Cancer around the World: A Framework for Action

Healthcare (Basel). 2022 Oct 25;10(11):2125. doi: 10.3390/healthcare10112125.

Abstract

Tackling cancer is a major challenge right on the global level. Europe is only the tip of an iceberg of cancer around the world. Prosperous developed countries share the same problems besetting Europe-and the countries and regions with fewer resources and less propitious conditions are in many cases struggling often heroically against a growing tide of disease. This paper offers a view on these geographically wider, but essentially similar, challenges, and on the prospects for and barriers to better results in this ceaseless battle. A series of panels have been organized by the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) to identify different aspects of cancer care around the globe. There is significant diversity in key issues such as NGS, RWE, molecular diagnostics, and reimbursement in different regions. In all, it leads to disparities in access and diagnostics, patients' engagement, and efforts for a better understanding of cancer.

Keywords: cancer; diagnostics; genomics; global; health care; liquid biopsy; next-generation sequencing; patients; personalized medicine; policy framework; reimbursement.

Grants and funding

This research received a grant from PROMISE- Personalized Medicine Inquiry-Based Education co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union; Grant Agreement No.: 2019-1-HR01-KA203-061010.