| ECPC-OECI joint workshop on Personalised Medicine |
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The first part of the event dealt with the crucial matter of what cancer patients can expect from Personalised Medicine. But first of all how should ideal cancer medicine look like? Prof Ulrik Ringborg from the Karolinska Intitut defined in his presentation the ideal of cancer medicine as a P4-medicine: it should be predictive, preventive, participative and personalised. However, this is the ideal but how close are today to that ideal? In his contribution Prof Ulrich Jäger, the President of the European Haematology Association, highlighted that there is are still many need if we would like to see more Personalised Medicine in Haematology in the future. For example there is a need for novel diagnostics in order to improve response predication, there is a need for a novel biology oriented tumour classification system and there is a need for a novel clinical trial design in order to allow more Phase II trials with higher success rates. After the identification of the scientific needs in the first panel the workshop addressed the issue of how can Personalised Medicines be integrated into healthcare provision in Europe? The session gathered panellists from all important stakeholders including the European Commission and the European Medicines Agency. One important issue discussed was how to overcome the infrastructural challenges in order to realise more personalised therapies for patients. Pekka Karp, representing the European Commission DG information society and media explained that Personalised Medicine is a also a computing and data challenge, requiring high-level e-infrastructures. Former Commissioner for Health David Byrne urged the present MEPs regarding the upcoming review of the clinical trials directive to take a more risk-benefit balanced approach in order to have more clinical trials patients can profit from. In summary there were three key issues identified that will be have to tackled by all stakeholders together if more personalised medicine should become a reality for cancer patients: - the need to educate the general public as to what exactly personalised medicine is, what it could offer and what it can actually deliver - the need for much better knowledge of the relevant science and technology to inform the policy and legislative process - the best use of biomarkers and diagnostic tests in personalised medicine potentially will realise massive savings in healthcare provision, and better-targeted and more timely treatments for patients ECPC will try to play a key role in solving these issues and will inform you about the progress of our efforts in the next newsletter.
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| Last Updated on Monday, 05 December 2011 18:48 |
What can Personalised Medicine offer cancer patients and how can Personalised Medicines be integrated into healthcare provision in Europe? These were the two central questions posed at the workshop entitled “‘Realising the potential of Personalised Medicine in oncology, key steps for patient access’ on November 23rd in the European Parliament. The workshop was jointly organised by the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC) and the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI). The establishment of this cooperation marks an important step forward in the collaboration of health professionals and the patient community. The event was hosted by the Members of the European Parliament Nessa Childers and Petru Luhan.
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