Community 365 Roundtable on Time to Treatment

On Tuesday 2 July, the 2024 ECO Community 365 Roundtable series continued with a spotlight placed on the issue of ‘Time to Treatment’. The discussion explored the extent to which patients experience unnecessary and concerning delays across the cancer care continuum – from detection to diagnosis to treatment. This included examining regional variations within Europe, tumour-specific delays, factors contributing to those delays, and potential solutions.

 

The roundtable was co-chaired by Peter Albers, Professor of Urology, Düsseldorf University & Division Head, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ); and Aleksandra Kaczmarek, Public Policy Manager, Digestive Cancers Europe. The event brought together experts from across the oncology community, including clinicians, patient representatives, technologists, researchers, and healthcare administrators.

 

A summary of the roundtable and resulting policy recommendations is now available in the Policy Action Report.

02 July 2024 16:00 - 18:30 CEST

Virtual

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Evaluating the time between cancer diagnosis and treatment is vital. Timely intervention not only improves survival rates, it also reduces patient anxiety and enhances both treatment efficacy and efficiency. Roundtable participants explored ways to ensure equitable access to timely care and how to accelerate the adoption of innovative cancer treatments.

The full recording of the roundtable discussion is now available here. The conclusions, along with examples of system optimisation across Europe, can be found in the roundtable report available here.

Download the report

Speakers

  • Peter Albers Professor of Urology, Düsseldorf University & Division Head, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
  • Aleksandra Kaczmarek Public Policy Manager, Digestive Cancers Europe
  • Jesus Garcia-Foncillas President, Fundación ECO
  • Martina Fontana Policy and Research Officer, Europa Donna
  • Mihai Rotaru Director Market Access EFPIA
  • Marie Phillips Research Assistant, Tufts Medical Center
show all speakers (13)

Speakers

  • Peter Albers Professor of Urology, Düsseldorf University & Division Head, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
  • Aleksandra Kaczmarek Public Policy Manager, Digestive Cancers Europe
  • Jesus Garcia-Foncillas President, Fundación ECO
  • Martina Fontana Policy and Research Officer, Europa Donna
  • Mihai Rotaru Director Market Access EFPIA
  • Marie Phillips Research Assistant, Tufts Medical Center
show all speakers (13)
  • Peter Albers Professor of Urology, Düsseldorf University & Division Head, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Read Bio
  • Aleksandra Kaczmarek Public Policy Manager, Digestive Cancers Europe Read Bio
  • Jesus Garcia-Foncillas President, Fundación ECO Read Bio
  • Martina Fontana Policy and Research Officer, Europa Donna Read Bio
  • Mihai Rotaru Director Market Access EFPIA Read Bio
  • Marie Phillips Research Assistant, Tufts Medical Center Read Bio
  • Jose Luis Gomez Ruiz Vice President, Public Policy and Advocacy Europe, Middle East and Africa, BD Read Bio
  • Alfonso Aguarón Policy Officer, Lung Cancer Europe Read Bio
  • Rebecca Steele Secretariat, European Alliance for Value in Health Read Bio
  • Corinne Balleyguier Radiologist, Head of imaging department, Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus Read Bio
  • Grant Carroll Chief Pharmacist, National Cancer Information System (NCIS) Read Bio
  • James Laubner Director International Government Affairs - Europe, Canada, Mid-East, Africa and Latin America, Amgen Read Bio
  • Ilya Gipp Oncology Chief Medical Officer, GE HealthCare Read Bio
  • Zoë Parker POLICY RESEARCH AND EU PROJECTS ASSISTANT, European Cancer Organization

Speakers

  • Peter Albers Professor of Urology, Düsseldorf University & Division Head, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
  • Aleksandra Kaczmarek Public Policy Manager, Digestive Cancers Europe
  • Jesus Garcia-Foncillas President, Fundación ECO
  • Martina Fontana Policy and Research Officer, Europa Donna
  • Mihai Rotaru Director Market Access EFPIA
  • Marie Phillips Research Assistant, Tufts Medical Center
show all speakers (13)

 

The Roundtable was co-chaired by Prof Peter Albers, Professor of Urology, Düsseldorf University & Division Head, German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ); and Aleksandra Kaczmarek, Public Policy Manager, Digestive Cancers Europe.

16:00 – 16:10 Welcome and introductions 

Prof Peter Albers and Aleksandra Kaczmarek introduced the concepts and themes of the roundtable. The introduction also included a presentation from Zoë Parker, Policy Research and EU Projects Assistant, ECO European Cancer Pulse team.

16:10 – 16:55  The role of digitisation in reducing waiting times 

Co-Chaired by Aleksandra Kaczmarek, Public Policy Manager, Digestive Cancers Europe and Jose Luis Gomez Ruiz, Vice President, Public Policy and Advocacy Europe, Middle East and Africa, BD

  • Jesus Garcia-Foncilla, President, ECO Foundation; Presentation of OncoOptimal project results
  • Grant Carroll, Chief Pharmacist, National Cancer Information System (NCIS)
  • Juan Manual Lacalle, Head of Quality and Patient Management at Denia Hospital; Denia Hospital video

Speakers and panellists presented and commented upon the role of digitisation in reducing waiting times from a variety of perspectives. Prof Jesus Garcia-Foncilla, President, ECO Foundation, presented the experience of the OncoOptimal project as a case study.

16:55 – 17:40 Means and methods to better coordinate the patient pathway

Co-chaired by Prof Peter Albers, Professor of Urology, Düsseldorf University & Division Head, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Dr Ilya Gipp, Chief Medical Officer, GE HealthCare 

  • Dr Corinne Balleyguier, Radiologist, Head of Imaging Department, Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus
  • Martina Fontana, Policy & Research Officer, Europa Donna

Speakers and panellists presented and commented upon the role of digitisation in reducing waiting times from a variety of perspectives. Prof Jesus Garcia-Foncilla, President, ECO Foundation, presented the experience of the OncoOptimal project as a case study.

17:40 – 18:25 Tackling delay in new treatment access 

Co-chaired by Aleksandra Kaczmarek, Public Policy Manager, Digestive Cancers Europe and James Laubner, Director International Government Affairs - Europe, Canada, Mid-East, Africa and Latin America, Amgen

  • Mihai Rotaru, Director Market Access, EFPIA; Presentation of the main results of the EFPIA Patient WAIT Indicator
  • Marie Phillips, Research Assistant, Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health, Tufts University School of Medicine
  • Alfonso Aguarón, Policy Officer, Lung Cancer Europe

  • Rebecca Steele, Secretariat, European Alliance for Value in Health

Speakers and panellists presented and commented on the role of early access schemes in providing patients with access to new treatments in accelerated time pathways. Mihai Rotaru, Director Market Access at EFPIA, presented the main results of the Patients W.A.I.T. Indicator Survey series. Marie Phillips, from Tufts University School of Medicine, presented recent research on multi-stakeholder perspectives on managing accelerated patient access to potentially beneficial medicines.

18:25 – 18:30 Event conclusion and next steps 

Speakers

  • Peter Albers Professor of Urology, Düsseldorf University & Division Head, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
  • Aleksandra Kaczmarek Public Policy Manager, Digestive Cancers Europe
  • Jesus Garcia-Foncillas President, Fundación ECO
  • Martina Fontana Policy and Research Officer, Europa Donna
  • Mihai Rotaru Director Market Access EFPIA
  • Marie Phillips Research Assistant, Tufts Medical Center
show all speakers (13)

Speakers

  • Peter Albers Professor of Urology, Düsseldorf University & Division Head, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
  • Aleksandra Kaczmarek Public Policy Manager, Digestive Cancers Europe
  • Jesus Garcia-Foncillas President, Fundación ECO
  • Martina Fontana Policy and Research Officer, Europa Donna
  • Mihai Rotaru Director Market Access EFPIA
  • Marie Phillips Research Assistant, Tufts Medical Center
show all speakers (13)