Rare cancers – more common than most people think
Nearly half a million Europeans live with a rare cancer. Despite the rarity of each individual cancer type, rare cancers represent in total about 20% of all cancer cases, including all cancers in children.
Rare cancers are classified in the group of rare diseases which is defined in the European Union as diseases with a prevalence of fewer than 5 cases out of a population of 10,000. As such, patients with rare cancers are faced with the same challenges as other patients living with a rare disease, such as lack of information, inefficient detection and practical obstacles to treatment and care, just because their condition is rare.
Against this background, the European Action Against Rare Cancers welcomes new policy initiatives, such as the European Commission’s Communication on Cancer. Within the framework of this and other already existing policy initiatives, including the European Commission’s Communication and the Council Recommendation on Rare Diseases, we urge European policy-makers to continue to initiate targeted actions and policies that will help raise awareness and address the challenges faced by patients with rare cancers.
Reference: RARECARE
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