Established in 2003, The European Cancer Patient Coalition is the voice of the European cancer patient community, uniquely representing the interests of all cancer patient groups from the major to the rarer cancers. It has been established to represent the views of cancer patients in the European healthcare debate and to provide a forum for European cancer patients to exchange information and share best practice experiences.

We derive our mandate to speak with "one voice" for all cancer patients from our membership and our democratic structure. With its motto "Nothing about us without us!", ECPC represents about 300 patient organisations in 41 countries, including the 27 EU member states.

ECPC Flyer (available in 7 different languages)

English - Deutsch - Italiano - Francais - Español - Polish - Romanian

ECPC's Six Guiding Strategic Goals

1. Making cancer a priority for action on the European health policy agenda
2. Effecting change in legislative or regulatory policies to help optimise cancer prevention, detection, treatment and care throughout Europe.
3. Ensuring that all cancer patients in the EU have access to timely and appropriate prevention, screening, early intervention, on-going clinical trials and best quality treatment and care.
4. Ensuring that best cancer practice is shared across the EU and gaps within and be-tween Member States are eradicated.
5. Empowering cancer patients to take an active role in shaping European and national policy that impacts on cancer prevention, treatment and care
6. Fostering co-operation between the cancer patients' organisations within Europe and to develop a common policy

ECPC Objectives

• To ensure that the rights of cancer patients are upheld and enforced.
• To increase cancer patients’ representation and influence at the highest level of decision making, nationally and Europe-wide, in all areas that affect their health.
• To empower patients to become true partners in the healthcare system.
• To obtain for patients certain and timely access to appropriate and accurate prevention, medical diagnosis, treatment and care, including psycho-social care.
• To encourage population-based screening programmes according to European quality guidelines.
• To promote the advance of cancer research, to include all applicable information on well-designed Clinical Trials and where possible the right to enrol in them.
• To call for improved multi-disciplinary training of health professionals.

How ECPC is organised and governed

We are an independent, non-profit "umbrella" organisation registered under Dutch law. Governed by an elected Board of nine members most of whom must be cancer patients, survivors or carers. We hold regular Board meetings and inform our membership through the Annual General Assembly, our website, newsletters, discussion fora and yearly Masterclasses. We have a Brussels office close to the European institutions, and our Director and Secretariat are based in Munich. Our president's office is in London.

ECPC maintains close links with EU institutions (Commission, Parliament, Council, and EMEA). ECPC monitors political development at EU level, identifies those which could impact the field of oncology, informs its member societies and supports European health issues.

ECPC provides this website, produces newsletters and position papers on a range of priority issues, e.g. on the disclosure of clinical trial information to patients. And ECPC holds a yearly masterclass on patient advocacy, addressing issues of importance to the cancer patient community.