Launch of the EC Knowledge Centre on Cancer

Cancer is the primary cause of death for Europeans under 65. In the EU, cancer accounts for more deaths in people under 65 than any other disease. It hosts less than 10% of the world’s population, but yet has 23% of all cancer cases. On average, only 1 in 2 cancer patients survive and one in two of us will face cancer in our lifetimes. A successful fight against cancer relies upon identifying, aligning, planning and coordinating actions of these initiatives at the Scientific and Technical level. A task that needs to be done by a neutral, independent, yet competent entity – the JRC. It is in this context that the JRC is establishing the EC Knowledge Centre on Cancer (KCC).

Agenda

The event will be web streamed. To participate, please register via the following link:

Registration to the launch of the EC Knowledge Centre on Cancer.

The event will start at 14:00 CET and will take place as follows:

14:00 - 14:05 Welcome and Introduction to EC Knowledge Centre on Cancer (KCC)

• Stephen Quest, Director-General, EC DG Joint Research Centre (DG JRC)
• Launch of video Knowledge Centre on Cancer

14:05 - 14:15 Keynote session

• Mariya Gabriel, EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture,Education and Youth
• Stella Kyriakides, EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety
• Bartosz Arlukowicz, Chair of the Special Committee on Beating Cancer, European Parliament

14:15 – 14:25 High-Level Panel Discussion

(Moderated by Stephen Quest, Director-General, DG JRC)

Speakers:

• Jean-Eric Paquet, Director-General, EC DG Research and Innovation (DG R&I)
• Pierre Delsaux, Deputy Director-General, EC DG Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE)

14:25 – 14:45 Launch of the European Guidelines and Quality Assurance Schemes for Breast Cancer Screening, Diagnosis and Care

Chaired by John Ryan, Director (DG SANTE) and Irene Norstedt, Director (DG R&I)

Speakers:

• Guy Van Den Eede, Director (DG JRC)
• Ciarán Nicholl (DG JRC)
• Annett Janusch Roi (DG JRC)
• Axel Gräwingholt, Holger J. Schünemann and Robert Mansel (Chairs of the Development Groups)

14:45 – 15:10 Technical Session

Moderated by Sandra Caldeira and Magdalena Stepien (DG JRC)

• What are the competence pillars of KCC?

Manola Bettio (DG JRC, Cancer registry data and information), Jan Wollgast (DG JRC, Cancer prevention), Simona Martin (DG JRC, Rare cancers and the European Platform on Rare Disease Registration)

• Howwill the KCC support the Mission on Cancer and the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan?

Barbara Kerstiens (DG R&I), Stefan Schreck (DG SANTE) and Ciarán Nicholl (DG JRC)

15:10 – 15:25 Open discussion with stakeholder, questions from the audience
(SliDo: Q & A), moderated by Sandra Caldeira (DG JRC)

15:25-15:30 Wrap up and close of meeting, Ciarán Nicholl, Head of Unit (DG JRC)

Contact: For information about the event, please contact ec-kcc@ec.europa.eu

Background on the EC Knowledge Centre on Cancer

In the EU, cancer accounts for more deaths in people under 65 than any other disease. It hosts less than 10% of the world’s population, but yet has 23% of all cancer cases. On average, only 1 in 2 cancer patients survive and one in two of us will face cancer in our lifetimes. In economic terms, cancer cost the EU almost €97 billion in 2018.

In futuristic terms, a number of factors including EU’s aging population will see all numbers and costs increase, unless serious action is taken, such as doing more on prevention, early detection, quality of care, etc.

Over 40% of cancers are preventable through diet (e.g. nutrition links to the EU’s farm to fork strategy) and lifestyle (e.g. physical activity links to clean transport, energy saving, etc.). Environmental (e.g. air, water and soil quality) and socio-economic factors as well as exposure to chemicals (endocrine disruptors, pesticides) or ionising radiation (e.g. radon) can all have an important role to play in the cancer paradigm.

The cancer challenge is both multifaceted and multidisciplinary and thus it requires a holistic approach. Spring 2020 boarded two flagship initiatives, namely the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (DG SANTE) and the Horizon Europe (2021-2027) Mission on Cancer (DG R&I). So the scene is set, but a successful fight against cancer will rely upon identifying, aligning, planning and coordinating actions of these initiatives at the Scientific and Technical level. A task that needs to be done by a neutral, independent, yet competent, entity – the JRC.

It is in this context that the JRC is establishing the EC Knowledge Centre on Cancer (KCC). The KCC will foster a Scientific and Technical Bridge between the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the Horizon Europe Mission on Cancer, fitting within the new Commission’s Workprogramme: Promoting our European Way of Life - Combatting Disease. It will offer already-established IT systems, gateways, portals, platforms and databases, i.e. concrete IT infrastructural components are already in place to unify EC initiatives and actions. The KCC will also offer in-house competence on cancer prevention, registry data and guidelines and quality assurance for cancer screening, diagnosis and care. The Joint Research Centre, when operating the KCC, will uphold its independence of all private, commercial and national interest. This positions the JRC to play the role of an independent knowledge broker with unquestionable patient/citizen-centricity.

The virtual meeting will consist of statements from the Commissioners, high level presentations on the featured EC activities in the Cancer area, as well as open discussions. The launch event will introduce the new Knowledge Centre on Cancer but will also feature a first impact of the KCC, namely the finalisation of the Guidelines and Quality Assurance Scheme for Breast Cancer Screening, Diagnosis and Care (ECIBC).

What are the Knowledge Centres?

Knowledge centres bring together experts, researchers and policymakers within and outside of the Commission to holistically frame policy questions and develop evidence-based answers. Knowledge centres are a very effective way of coordinating across Commission services/policies on specific issues.

Enhanced scientific support to EU policies has a crucial role to play. The Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) coordinates knowledge and competence centres, making available science-based evidence and a variety of tools and services to inform policymakers in all EU policy areas. Knowledge centres are co-led by the JRC and a lead policy DG in the relevant area.

Related information

• Factsheet EC Knowledge Centres – knowledge brokers for robust policies
• Knowledge for Policy platform

Related Content

Registration to the launch of the EC KC on Cancer

Knowledge for Policy platform

Factsheet EC Knowledge Centres – knowledge brokers for robust policies

Venue

online, EU