Every year, in Europe, there are 2.7 million new cases of cancer, equal to 5 every minute. On the other hand, thanks to prevention campaigns and increasingly effective treatments, approximately 7.3 million cancer deaths have been avoided in the European Union since 1988. In 2026, approximately 1,230,000 deaths from cancer are estimated, with a decrease of 7.8% for men and 5.9% for women compared to the period 2020-2022.
The experts from the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) remind us of this on the occasion of the Congress of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO), pointing out that there is still a long way to go.
It is estimated that in Europe 5% of the population has faced a cancer diagnosis, for a total of 23.7 million people. In Italy 4 million citizens live after being diagnosed with cancer. In 2025, approximately 390,000 new cases have been estimated in our country. Survival and cure rates are increasing in many cancers. 63% of women and 54% of men are alive at 5 years and at least one patient in four has returned to having the same life expectancy as the general population and can be considered cured. To further improve these results, it is essential to invest in research and prevention programs.
The numbers that make us hope and reflect
Lung cancer in males recorded the largest decrease (-22.5%). Innovation does not only translate into lives saved, but also into the possibility of reintegrating people who have experienced cancer into the social and productive fabric. In Europe, in fact, indirect costs, linked above all to the loss of productivity caused by the disease, have decreased by 16% in approximately 30 years, from 97 billion euros in 1995 to 82 billion in 2023. As regards the decline in deaths due to oncological causes in the male population, the credit goes above all to the decrease in smoking habits in men.
Given the good news, with margins for improvement still to be explored, critical issues remain in access to innovative therapies. In the Old Continent, on average, only 51% of new medicines approved by the European regulatory body (EMA) are made available and it takes 655 days to access them (in 2025).
Our country presents better data, even if the times are still too long. Italy, in fact, guarantees access to 89% of the anti-cancer drugs approved by the EMA and, in this ranking, is second in Europe after Germany (91%) (Austria 86%; Spain 73%; France 68%). In our country, however, 470 days, i.e. approximately 15 months, must pass for the new treatments to become available.
As Massimo Di Maio, AIOM President, points out,
“innovative therapies not only improve survival, but also promote the return to work and social life. The reduction of the indirect costs of cancer is a very important result, determined by increasingly effective treatments, which must be available to all patients, so that we can talk about equity in innovation. In a year, the time to obtain new anti-cancer drugs has lengthened by over 2 months in Europe and by about a month in Italy. In 2024 in Europe it took an average of 586 days, in our Country 441. In Italy there are still critical issues related to bureaucratic and administrative procedures because, after the approval of reimbursement by the Italian Medicines Agency, in some Regions it is necessary to wait for inclusion in the Regional Therapeutic Handbooks and further delays may be caused by regional tenders and the need for inclusion also in the Hospital Therapeutic Handbooks”.
The impact of politics
In 10 years (2014 – 2023), in Europe, spending on anti-cancer drugs increased from 24.9 billion euros to 64.3 billion. This growth was driven by a combination of price effects and an increase in the number of cancer cases. Italy accounts for 14% of European spending on oncology drugs and ranks third after Germany (19%) and France (19%). But for the future there could also be impacts from macroeconomic and political choices that could play an important role.
The times for accessing the new treatments could be further delayed due to the “Most Favored Nation” (MFN) clause, established by the US administration, which plans to reduce the prices of American drugs in line with the lowest prices of other countries, including Italy. The provision risks further extending the timeframe and generating serious repercussions on cancer care in our country. Pharmaceutical companies, in fact, could decide to delay the launch of new innovative oncology therapies in Europe and Italy or not to make them available at all, to prevent a low local price from affecting or reducing revenues on the more profitable US market.
Less chemotherapy
But how are we doing on the treatment front? The progress can be seen, of course.
“In Europe, the share of chemotherapy in total spending on oncology drugs has decreased from 22% in 2014 to 6% in 2023, overtaken by targeted therapies and immunotherapies. Immunotherapies alone now represent 29% of expenditures. These changes reflect the growing impact of precision oncology, which allows the selection of the right treatment for the individual patient. The number of approvals by the EMA has increased significantly, going from an average of one new drug per year in the period 1995-2000 to around 14 per year in 2021-2024. Western European countries tend to reimburse more treatments and do so more quickly than Central and Eastern Europe. For example, Germany made available 91% of the oncology drugs approved by the EMA in the period 2021-2024 within just over 100 days, while Romania, Estonia, Malta, Slovakia. and Latvia stop at percentages equal to or lower than 20% and the repayment time stands at around 1,000 days in Lithuania, Romania and Estonia, resulting in strong inequalities, which must be overcome as soon as possible”
remembers Giuseppe Curigliano, President-elect of ESMO.
