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A European online cancer-communications network for drug companies, scientists, doctors and patients has been launched.
The £1 million Eurocancercoms project will link health professionals, consumer groups and industry in a bid to improve treatment by boosting co-operation.
It will include access to databases that can be searched by patients as well as health professionals, plus trial results as and when they are made available.
Says Professor Alexander Eggermont, president of the European Cancer Organisation (ECCO), which is leading the project: “There is an urgent need in Europe to improve communications between everyone working in cancer and between them and patients.
“Europe has an increasing number of cancer patients and worse outcomes for care, despite having better-quality clinical research than the US. Cancer survival is unacceptably variable in different European countries.
“A previous study identified poor communication between all those involved in cancer care as one of the main reasons for these poor outcomes. Eurocancercoms aims to address these problems by creating a ‘one-stop shop’ for the whole cancer community from scientists to patients.”
Copyright Press Association 2009
