Koukoutzeli Chrysanthi, Ferraris Giulia, Coppini Veronica, Ferrari Maria Vittoria, Fragale Elisa, Trapani Dario, Minchella Ida, Grasso Roberto, Curigliano Giuseppe, Pravettoni Gabriella
Division of New Drugs and Early Drug Development for Innovative Therapies, European Institute of Oncology (IEO), IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
Applied Research Division for Cognitive and Psychological Science, European Institute of Oncology (IEO), IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
Front Public Health. 2025 Jun 5;13:1520772. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1520772. eCollection 2025.
Equity in healthcare remains a pressing issue in cancer care across the European Union. Although numerous European initiatives address prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment, significant disparities in access to innovative cancer therapies persist. Time-to-reimbursement for new anticancer drugs varies widely between member states, depending on national health policies, economic capacity, and healthcare infrastructure. These differences particularly affect countries in Central and Eastern Europe, where delays in reimbursement, limited access to clinical trials, and restricted availability of specialized care contribute to worse outcomes. This narrative review examines how disparities in reimbursement timelines and access to new cancer therapies may affect factors such as early detection, specialized treatment availability, clinical trial participation, and socioeconomic status. The discussion is framed within the BEACON project, a European Union-funded initiative under the EU4Health programme. BEACON brings together patients, healthcare providers, researchers, and policymakers to create a cross-border network for quality-assured diagnosis and treatment. Through its multilingual digital platform, the project fosters collaboration, supports health literacy, and enhances access to innovative cancer therapies, aiming to reduce inequities regardless of geographic or socioeconomic background.
医疗保健公平性仍是欧盟癌症护理领域的一个紧迫问题。尽管欧洲有许多举措致力于癌症预防、早期诊断和治疗，但在获得创新癌症疗法方面仍存在显著差异。新抗癌药物的报销时间在各成员国之间差异很大，这取决于国家卫生政策、经济能力和医疗基础设施。这些差异对中东欧国家影响尤为严重，在这些国家，报销延迟、临床试验机会有限以及专科护理服务不足导致了更糟糕的治疗结果。本叙述性综述探讨了报销时间和获得新癌症疗法的差异如何影响早期检测、专科治疗可及性、临床试验参与度和社会经济地位等因素。讨论围绕BEACON项目展开，该项目是欧盟“健康4欧洲”计划资助的一项倡议。BEACON将患者、医疗服务提供者、研究人员和政策制定者聚集在一起，创建一个跨境网络，以确保诊断和治疗的质量。通过其多语言数字平台，该项目促进合作，支持健康素养提升，并增加获得创新癌症疗法的机会，旨在消除因地理或社会经济背景造成的不公平现象。
