'WeWontRest' until cancer is nothing to fear

Ahead of the European Cancer Organization’s (ECCO) European Cancer Summit 2018 in Vienna, Austria, Nathalie Moll, director general of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, reflects on the impact cancer has on people, on their families and carers and on healthcare systems.

Over the last decade, significant advances have been achieved in cancer outcomes, bringing the average five-year relative survival rate across all cancer types in Europe to 54% for cancers diagnosed between 2000 and 2007 up from 51.5% in 2000-2002. For European patients diagnosed in 2012, over 66,000 more will live for at least 5 years after diagnosis compared with if they had been diagnosed a decade earlier.

While continued improvement in diagnosis and treatment delivery have certainly played their part, so too has the availability of a new generation of targeted treatments,  unlocking the potential of immunotherapy and combination treatments. Our members’ research is starting to explore innovative techniques to interrupt the carcinogenic process, intercepting cancer at its roots, and, as an industry, #WeWontRest until cures replace just treating cancer, she said.