The EU’s Cancer Plan provides a unique opportunity to bring a more co-ordinated approach to prostate cancer, say Europa Uomo and the European Association of Urology (EAU) in a new White Paper designed to set an agenda for action. As the consultation period for the EU Cancer Plan 2021-2025 comes to an end, the submission highlights the importance of early detection, high quality care, quality of life and research into ways of discriminating between significant and insignificant prostate cancer. An update on an earlier White Paper, produced in 2017, the White Paper is published by EAU but was d ..read more

Last year, Europa Uomo formally put its weight behind the cause of a Europe-wide PSA-based structured screening programme for prostate cancer. Now there are moves to make Finland the first European country to introduce such a structured programme.  Here, Europa Uomo Board member Pentti Tuohimaa from Finland provides an update on the situation. “A year ago I wrote an entitled ‘Towards Prostate Cancer Screening in Europe’, published in several leading newspapers in Finland. The response was mainly positive and encouraging. One urology professor was very strongly against the proposal, b ..read more

Knowledge of COVID-19 is growing but still sparse. For people receiving treatment for cancer and those weakened by its effects, there is little official guidance – for example on weighing the risk of continuing treatment against the risk of stopping it. This week the European Cancer Organisation (ECCO) said the COVID-19 pandemic poses a significant threat for cancer patients, who deserve to be protected through immediate action all over Europe. For cancer patients undergoing active treatment (chemotherapy, radiation or surgery) and people known to be at an elevated risk for complicat ..read more

The EAU congress in Amsterdam, scheduled for 20th-23rd March has been postponed until 17th-21st July 2020, due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic.  Europa Uomo had planned to announce the results of its EUPROMS study at this conference. The results will now be presented at the re-scheduled event in July instead. André Deschamps, Europa Uomo Chairman, said: “For the first time, prostate cancer patients have been given the opportunity to speak in a ‘game changing session’ in the main conference room. A press release and conference and EAU TV interview had also been scheduled in April.”  “Th ..read more

Europa Uomo member organisations are being urged to provide their views on the priorities for prostate cancer as part of the consultation for the new EU cancer plan.  The European Commission launched the consultation for Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan earlier this month, “to fight cancer, to support Member States and stakeholders in improving cancer control and care to reduce the suffering caused by this disease.”  Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, launching the consultation on Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan The plan will focus on prevention and early detection ..read more

The Irish prostate patients’ organisation Men Against Cancer (MAC) is running an extensive series of presentations to retired men, calling on them to advise their sons to have a PSA test if over 45 and earlier if prostate cancer runs in the family. MAC has developed a slide presentation highlighting the new recommendations for organised screening for prostate cancer and is showing this to Probus Clubs of retired and semi-retired people. The presentation also deals with the possible prostate cancer risks if female family members have had the BRCA breast cancer mutations. Open question ..read more

Europa Uomo’s prostate cancer quality of life study has caused excitement in the medical community, following the announcement of early findings at the European Association of Urology’s oncology meeting in Dublin. At the meeting, Europa Uomo Chair André Deschamps told delegates that this is the first time that the authentic patient voice had been heard in such detail and volume, and using accredited quality of life questionnaires. The survey of nearly 3,000 men with prostate cancer found that higher than expected numbers are struggling with mental health, sexual and tiredness problems afte ..read more

Early findings from the first prostate cancer quality of life study conducted by patients themselves show that significant numbers of men treated for the disease are struggling with mental health, sexual and tiredness problems after treatment. The Europa Uomo Patient Reported Outcomes Study (EUPROMS) is using data from 2,943 questionnaire responses from men who have had prostate cancer from 24 European countries. The preliminary findings have been announced by Europa Uomo Chairman André Deschamps at the European Association of Urology’s oncology meeting in Dublin (pictured).  Europa Uomo ..read more

The lack of a screening programme for the early detection of prostate cancer represents an inequality – and structured and organised PSA screening programmes should begin in all European countries. This is a main message of a major new Europa Uomo statement, which points to the fact that prostate cancer kills more men than breast cancer kills women, and evidence that at least 20,000 men’s lives could be saved by structured PSA-based screening. The statement comes in the wake of the European Association of Oncology’s announcement earlier in the year that it would be pushing for popul ..read more

Men with prostate cancer told their stories at the launch of a new campaign to improve the care for people affected by prostate cancer across Europe. The new Let’s Talk Prostate Cancer initiative, backed by the European Association of Urology (EAU), is bringing together an multi-stakeholder expert group across the EU to develop recommendations for the EU. Robert Greene from the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC) spoke of how his life had changed in “unimaginable ways” since being diagnosed with prostate cancer. Even though his prostate cancer was caught at an early stage, and ..read more