In this webcast from the EMUC23 Congress, held in November in Marseille, EAU Policy Office Chair Hein Van Poppel filled in for Monique Roobol and presented her slides on risk-adapted strategy for screening and early detection in prostate cancer in Europe.

Hein Van Poppel presented the opening lecture at the EMUC Congress on the subject of: “EU recommendations on prostate cancer screening programmes: what can we expect in the next 5 years?” He stated that each year 417,000 men in Europe are diagnosed with prostate cancer, more than two million are living with prostate cancer and 92,200 die of prostate cancer.

PRAISE-U (Prostate cancer Awareness and Initiative for Screening European Union) was set up to encourage early detection and diagnosis of through customised and risk-based screening programmes. According to Professor Van Poppel there will be five pilot studies in the EU in 2024, and a report submitted to the European Commission in 2026.

The webcast of this presentation can be watched here.

The Daily Mail newspaper reports that a new prostate cancer screening pilot programme, centred around MRI scanning, will be trialled in the UK, backed by the Government through the National Institute for Health and Care Research and Prostate Cancer UK.

The pilot programme, called TRANSFORM, will be announced next spring, with recruitment likely to begin in the autumn, according to the newspaper.

The National Alliance of State Prostate Cancer Coalitions in the United States has published a special issue of the Prostatepedia on Black men and prostate cancer. It covers the fact that Black men face a higher risk of developing prostate cancer and are more likely to experience aggressive forms of the disease.

Europa Uomo’s EU-PROPER survey of partners of men with prostate caner has received 800 responses to date. The target is 1000 responses. Please help us reach that number

The EU-PROPER study centres around an online survey for spouses, partners and caregivers, asking simple questions about how their partner’s prostate cancer has affected them. The survey is available in 17 languages.

The survey is still open until the end of December 2023. Europa Uomo has published a range of materials to help build awareness of the survey. You can access the publicity materials here. Anything you can do to bring this to the attention of men and women with prostate cancer would be much appreciated.

At the 24th IPOS World Congress on Psycho Oncology in Milan in September, Europa Uomo’s Tania Estapé presented a paper on “Mental health in prostate cancer patients: results from EUPROMS study”. You can read the abstract here.

The European Patients’ Forum (EPF) is inviting co-legislators to adopt an EU-wide opt-out system which would give patients the ability to opt out of the secondary use of their data should they wish so. You can read EPF’s position on establishing an opt-out system here.

Time to Accelerate: Together Against Cancer” is a manifesto of recommendations for the future of EU cancer policy under the next European Commission 2024-2029. The manifesto was unveiled on 15th November during the European Cancer Summit.

It represents the result of inputs and consultations with many organisations and individuals active in pan-European cancer policy, and consultation with the Focused Topic Networks of the European Cancer Organisation.

Article 83 of the European Commission’s proposal for a Directive on medicinal products for human use introduces the pivotal concept of “unmet medical need”.

As the voice of patient organisations in Europe, the European Patients’ Forum (EPF) has said it perceives the current Commission’s definition as restrictive, offering only a limited scope for genuine health innovation. EPF expresses concern and calls for patient involvement in drawing up the definition. Ultimately, the concept of “unmet medical need” should aim to distinguish innovative medicines that provide real and significant added therapeutic value for patients from other new medicines, it says.

You can read EPF’s position paper here.