Community 365 Roundtable. Cancer care: are we treating the whole patient?

On Tuesday 27 May, the 2025 ECO Community 365 Roundtable series continued with the question: ‘Cancer care: are we treating the whole patient?’

 

As Sir William Osler famously said, ‘The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.’ This roundtable embraceed that principle and explored essential yet often overlooked dimensions of cancer care.

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Thank you for joining the discussion!

27 May 2025 15:00 - 17:30 CEST

Virtual

The discussion examined the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance in oncology settings, the role of medical nutrition in improving outcomes and quality of life, and persistent challenges to patient safety across treatment pathways.

Throughout, gaps were identified, best practices shared, and a momentum for more integrated and resilient cancer care systems in Europe was generated.

The event was co-chaired by:

Alessandro Laviano, Professor at Sapienza University of Rome and Director of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) Lifelong Learning Educational Programme; and

Ivana Dragojević, President of the Association for Liver Diseases Hronos and Vice-President of the European Liver Patients' Association (ELPA).

The full recording of the roundtable discussion is now available here.

Speakers

  • Ivana Dragojević President of the Association for Liver Diseases Hronos and Vice-President of the European Liver Patients' Association (ELPA)
  • Alessandro Laviano Professor at Sapienza University of Rome and Director of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) Lifelong Learning Educational Programme
  • Katrien Van Laere Chief Medical & Scientific Officer at Danone
  • Tomislav Sokol Member of the European Parliament
  • Virpi Sulosaari Principal Lecturer, Turku University of Applied Sciences and Previous President, European Oncology Nursing Society
  • Najy Alsayed Global Therapeutic Area Head for Infectious Diseases, Menarini
show all speakers (15)

Speakers

  • Ivana Dragojević President of the Association for Liver Diseases Hronos and Vice-President of the European Liver Patients' Association (ELPA)
  • Alessandro Laviano Professor at Sapienza University of Rome and Director of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) Lifelong Learning Educational Programme
  • Katrien Van Laere Chief Medical & Scientific Officer at Danone
  • Tomislav Sokol Member of the European Parliament
  • Virpi Sulosaari Principal Lecturer, Turku University of Applied Sciences and Previous President, European Oncology Nursing Society
  • Najy Alsayed Global Therapeutic Area Head for Infectious Diseases, Menarini
show all speakers (15)
  • Ivana Dragojević President of the Association for Liver Diseases Hronos and Vice-President of the European Liver Patients' Association (ELPA)
  • Alessandro Laviano Professor at Sapienza University of Rome and Director of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) Lifelong Learning Educational Programme
  • Katrien Van Laere Chief Medical & Scientific Officer at Danone Read Bio
  • Tomislav Sokol Member of the European Parliament
  • Virpi Sulosaari Principal Lecturer, Turku University of Applied Sciences and Previous President, European Oncology Nursing Society
  • Najy Alsayed Global Therapeutic Area Head for Infectious Diseases, Menarini Read Bio
  • Marco Falcone Full Professor of Infectious Diseases, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa
  • Antonella Cardone Director, Cancer Patients Europe (CPE) Read Bio
  • Henry Skinner CEO, Global AMR Action Fund
  • Jose Luis Gomez Ruiz Vice President Europe of Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD)
  • Adriano Friganović President, The European Specialist Nurses Organisation (ESNO) Read Bio
  • Heidi Siller Project Manager EIWH - European Institute of Women's Health
  • Zsuzsanna Bodor Clinical pharmacist at the National Institute of Oncology, Hungary Read Bio
  • Jose Medina Polo José Medina-Polo, Urologist at Functional and Reconstructive Unit -Department of Urology- Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre Read Bio
  • Dave Chuter Vice-Chair of Digestive Cancers Europe and chairs the Patient Advisory Committee Read Bio

Speakers

  • Ivana Dragojević President of the Association for Liver Diseases Hronos and Vice-President of the European Liver Patients' Association (ELPA)
  • Alessandro Laviano Professor at Sapienza University of Rome and Director of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) Lifelong Learning Educational Programme
  • Katrien Van Laere Chief Medical & Scientific Officer at Danone
  • Tomislav Sokol Member of the European Parliament
  • Virpi Sulosaari Principal Lecturer, Turku University of Applied Sciences and Previous President, European Oncology Nursing Society
  • Najy Alsayed Global Therapeutic Area Head for Infectious Diseases, Menarini
show all speakers (15)

Community 365 Roundtable. Cancer care: are we treating the whole patient?

Programme

 

15:00 - 15:10 | Welcome and introductions

15:10 - 15:55 | Medical Nutrition

Co-chaired by Alessandro Laviano and Katrien Van Laere, Chief Medical & Scientific Officer at Danone.

This session brought attention to the burden and under-recognition of cancer-related malnutrition, the role of medical nutrition, and the existing gaps in EU policy regarding this issue.

Presenting speaker:

  • Dave Chuter, Chair, Digestive Cancers Europe’s Patient Advisory Committee
  • Alessandro Laviano, Professor at Sapienza University of Rome and Director of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) Lifelong Learning Educational Programme
  • Tomislav Sokol MEP

Panel respondents:

  • Virpi Sulosaari, Principal Lecturer, Turku University of Applied Sciences and Previous President, European Oncology Nursing Society

15:55 - 16:40 | Antimicrobial Resistance

Co-chaired by Alessandro Laviano and Najy Alsayed, Global Therapeutic Area Head for Infectious Diseases, Menarini.

The session examined the impact of antimicrobial resistance for cancer care in Europe, the health economic aspect to its incidence and control and the political opportunities for improved response.

Presenting speaker:

  • Marco Falcone, Full Professor of Infectious Diseases, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa

Panel respondents:

  • Antonella Cardone, Director, Cancer Patients Europe (CPE)
  • Zsuzsanna Bodor, Clinical Pharmacist, National Institute of Oncology, Hungary
  • Henry Skinner, CEO, Global AMR Action Fund

16:40 - 17:25 | Healthcare Acquired Infections

Co-chaired by Ivana Dragojević, Vice-President and Treasurer, European Liver Patients' Association (ELPA) and Jose Luis Gomez Ruiz, Vice President Europe of Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD).

The session considered some of the principal patient safety risks that can be present in oncology treatment with a special look at healthcare acquired infections. Practices to mitigate and prevent these risks from around the globe were considered and discussed.

Presenting speaker:

  • José Medina-Polo, Urologist at Functional and Reconstructive Unit of the Department of Urology, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain and Member of RED ERN eUROGEN

Panel respondents:

  • Adriano Friganović, President, The European Specialist Nurses Organisation (ESNO)
  • Antonella Cardone, Director, Cancer Patients Europe (CPE)
  • Heidi Siller, Project Manager EIWH - European Institute of Women's Health

17:25 - 17:30 | Event conclusions

 

Speakers

  • Ivana Dragojević President of the Association for Liver Diseases Hronos and Vice-President of the European Liver Patients' Association (ELPA)
  • Alessandro Laviano Professor at Sapienza University of Rome and Director of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) Lifelong Learning Educational Programme
  • Katrien Van Laere Chief Medical & Scientific Officer at Danone
  • Tomislav Sokol Member of the European Parliament
  • Virpi Sulosaari Principal Lecturer, Turku University of Applied Sciences and Previous President, European Oncology Nursing Society
  • Najy Alsayed Global Therapeutic Area Head for Infectious Diseases, Menarini
show all speakers (15)

Speakers

  • Ivana Dragojević President of the Association for Liver Diseases Hronos and Vice-President of the European Liver Patients' Association (ELPA)
  • Alessandro Laviano Professor at Sapienza University of Rome and Director of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) Lifelong Learning Educational Programme
  • Katrien Van Laere Chief Medical & Scientific Officer at Danone
  • Tomislav Sokol Member of the European Parliament
  • Virpi Sulosaari Principal Lecturer, Turku University of Applied Sciences and Previous President, European Oncology Nursing Society
  • Najy Alsayed Global Therapeutic Area Head for Infectious Diseases, Menarini
show all speakers (15)