Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan brings hope for better prostate cancer outcomes
We warmly welcome today’s launch of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan by the European Commission, in particular the planned activities under early detection. The Commission aims to propose an update on the European Council’s Recommendation on cancer screening by 2022, including the potential addition of new cancers such as prostate cancer.
This gives the EU a unique opportunity to tackle the current unacceptable rise in mortality rates and ‘too late’ diagnoses of prostate cancer while avoiding the overdiagnosis and overtreatment challenges of the past and assuring the best possible quality of life for patients. If Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan can harmonise an approach across the EU with regards to early detection of prostate cancer, we believe this will not only decrease mortality from prostate cancer, but also support EU member states to sort out the current mess of opportunistic testing for prostate cancer.