Promoting cancer screening in the European Union

SUMMARY OF:

Recommendation on strengthening prevention through early detection: A new European Union approach on cancer screening

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE RECOMMENDATION?

The recommendation aims to improve early detection of cancer in the European Union (EU), an important goal of Europe’s beating cancer plan, by:

helping to ensure that 90% of the EU population who qualify are offered breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening by 2025;
calling for the stepwise introduction of prostate, lung and gastric cancer screening programmes based on further research.

KEY POINTS

In 2020, an estimated 2.7 million people in the EU were diagnosed with cancer. An estimated one in two EU citizens will develop cancer during their lifetime, with long-lasting consequences on their quality of life, and only half of all cancer patients will survive.

Europe’s beating cancer plan is a key pillar of the European health union. A new EU-supported Cancer screening scheme is part of one of the four key areas of the plan, improving early detection.

Cancer screening programmes

The recommendation calls on EU Member States to:

ensure equitable access to screening, consider the needs of particular socioeconomic groups, persons with disabilities and people living in rural or remote areas;
ensure adequate and timely diagnostic procedures, treatments, psychological support and aftercare;
introduce a regular systematic monitoring of screening programmes, including any disparities, via the European cancer information system and the European cancer inequalities registry;
get more people to take part, based on fully informed consent;
introduce novel screening tests, taking into account international research results;
implement new cancer screening tests in routine healthcare once they have been positively evaluated in randomised trials;
run trials on subsequent diagnosis and treatment procedures, clinical outcomes, side effects, morbidity and quality of life;
consider introducing into routine healthcare potentially promising new screening tests (or modifications to the existing ones), once the evidence is conclusive;
train personnel at every level to ensure that they can deliver high-quality screening;
ensure that everyone targeted by the cancer screening programme is invited to take part in the programme;
collect, manage and evaluate data on all screening tests, assessments and final diagnoses, and consider making the data available for research, including on early diagnosis and prevention;
report to the European Commission on how the recommendations are implemented within 3 years and, after that, every 4 years.

The Commission agrees to:

encourage cooperation between Member States on research and sharing best practices;
support research on cancer screening, including rapidly developing guidelines and quality assurance schemes;
work in close cooperation with Member States to improve information system interoperability;
complement national efforts, if requested, by providing technical support with information activities.

Breast, cervical and colorectal cancers

Existing EU guidelines on breast, colorectal and cervical cancer will be regularly updated. The revised EU approach recommends:

breast cancer screening with mammography for all women aged 50 to 69, and suggests it for women aged 45 to 74;
testing for human papilloma virus (HPV) as the preferred tool for cervical cancer screening for all women aged 30 to 65 at least every 5 years, taking account of HPV vaccination status;
testing for colorectal cancer using faecal immunochemical testing before referring individuals aged 50 to 74 for follow-up endoscopy or colonoscopy.

Lung, prostate and gastric cancers

EU guidelines on screening and treatment guidelines will be developed with the financial support of EU4Health on lung, prostate and gastric cancer. Based on further research, Member States are invited to:

explore how feasible and effective low-dose computed tomography is for screening individuals at high risk of lung cancer, including heavy smokers and ex-smokers, and link screening with primary and secondary prevention approaches;
evaluate how feasible and effective organised prostate cancer screening is for men, using prostate-specific antigen testing in combination with magnetic resonance imaging scanning as a follow-up;
follow screen-and-test strategies for Helicobacter pylori (a bacterium that can cause gastric cancer) for countries and regions with high gastric cancer incidence and death rates.

FROM WHEN DOES THE RECOMMENDATION APPLY?

The recommendation was adopted on 9 December 2022.

BACKGROUND

For further information, see:

European Health Union: Commission welcomes adoption of new EU cancer screening recommendations – press release (European Commission)
Council updates its recommendation to screen for cancer – press release (Council of the European Union)
Strengthening Europe in the fight against cancer (European Parliament).

MAIN DOCUMENT

Council Recommendation of 9 December 2022 on strengthening prevention through early detection: A new EU approach on cancer screening replacing Council Recommendation 2003/878/EC (OJ C 473, 13.12.2022, pp. 1–10).