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The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a National Cancer Control Plan as ‘a public health programme designed to reduce cancer incidence and mortality and improve quality of life of cancer patients, through the systematic and equitable implementation of evidence-based strategies for prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and palliation, making the best use of available resources’.

Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) are battery-powered products that create an aerosol by heating a liquid consisting of propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin and flavouring agents. The liquid may or may not (but usually does) contain nicotine, at variable doses. Differently from conventional cigarettes, there is no combustion of tobacco in ENDS, thus making people think they cause less harm. However, the varying voltage that is applied to the liquid creates a mixture of potentially toxic substances in the aerosols that are then inhaled by users.

While patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are now an integral part of many phase III trials, their incorporation into routine clinical practice is hampered by economic and time pressures among healthcare professionals. However, with the advent of electronic-based questionnaires, current boundaries are likely to be stretched.

An innovative approach

Sex- and gender-sensitive medicine postulates that differences in biological sex, gender identity, role and relations all impact health and disease, and may have implications for prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment. Its goal is to learn from these differences to improve care and treatment for men and women.

Pioneering work by Joan Seoane and colleagues from Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology in Barcelona makes use of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to detect circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA)  in patients with brain tumours. Where blood and plasma analysis have failed, a new era for liquid biopsies based on different physiological fluids for different tumour types is on the horizon.

LGP in Asia

The first ESMO Leaders Generation Programme (LGP) Asia will be a four-day course held in Singapore from 18 to 21 November 2019. The course will provide participants with an overview of how ESMO works, offering workshops, discussions and hands-on media and leadership skills training. The programme is aimed at qualified medical or clinical oncologists, working in the Asia-Pacific region and who are ESMO members aged between 31 and 45.

Shortages of inexpensive essential cancer medicines is a growing emergency in Europe, although the size of the problem is still uncertain as data are lacking. ESMO is at the forefront in order to drive concerted and collaborative action. A call to action was launched last April as the issue cannot be tackled by countries individually and establishing a strong European leadership is crucial.

Françoise Mornex, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon, France, made history this year when she became the first woman to receive the Heine H. Hansen Award, in recognition of her contribution to the field of lung cancer. She talks about her passion for her work and teaching and keeping the flame of interest alight.

2019 marks the 30th Anniversary of the ESMO Fellowship Programme, a programme that has helped young oncologists to enhance their careers like Giannis Mountzios, Henry Dunant Hospital Center, Athens, Greece, who had the opportunity to broaden his experience internationally.

Medical oncologists have traditionally played a marginal role in helping drive the adoption of preventive lifestyles, “but now it is time to strengthen our commitment” says ESMO President

Promising results with cancer vaccines based on specific antigen mutations in individual tumours, and typically used in combination with checkpoint inhibitors, are fuelling an upsurge of interest in cancer vaccination for patients with established cancer, explains Prof. Pedro Romero. 

According to Prof. Urania Dafni, high quality real-world evidence can provide broader information and more generalisable conclusions to verify the clinical applicability of evidence from RCTs 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, real-world data have shown they can support clinical decision-making in complex situations but extensive bureaucracy is still a limiting factor