World Cancer Day: Hope, prevention, and treatment

Sofia Pereira Sá was diagnosed with cancer in summer 2023 and underwent 20 rounds of chemotherapy. She still feels some side effects now, such as “chemo brain”. “All these side effects prevented me from being the mum I wanted to be for my one and half-year-old son. I couldn’t play with him, I couldn’t bathe him, I couldn’t take him to school. This was the hardest part of the whole treatment. It was heartbreaking,” recalls Sofia. 

Sofia’s story is all too common and a reminder that the disease touches us all.  

World Cancer Day on 4 February encouraged cancer prevention globally and mobilized action to address it. According to the European Commission’s Country Cancer 2025 reports for EU countries, Norway and Iceland, cancer survival rates have increased by 12% across the EU. However, cancer prevalence has increased by 24% and cancer inequalities persist across EU countries. 

The reports find that about half of cancer cases are caused by four main cancer types: colorectal, lung, prostate and breast. They also note some improvements on several cancer risk factors in the EU, including decreasing smoking rates and an overall decrease in alcohol use. Overweight and obesity, however, remain an increasing challenge, with over half of adults in the EU being overweight. 

The EU is actively playing its part in tackling the disease. In 2021, it launched Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. This has seen the establishment of several key initiatives to improve cancer prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment and quality of life of cancer patients and survivors in the EU.  

One of these initiatives, the European Commission Initiative on Breast Cancer, published the first official version of the European quality assurance scheme for breast cancer services, ahead of World Cancer Day. The scheme defines a set of quality requirements for breast cancer care, covering screening, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up across the EU. 

On World Cancer Day, Commissioner Várhelyi hosted his first Youth Policy Dialogue, with 30 young cancer survivors and young cancer professionals. The Dialogue was an occasion for the participants to share their views on EU health policies and programmes in the field of oncology and discuss how health policy can better serve cancer patients and survivors. 

Meantime, Sofia is drawing hope from a new-found ‘superglue’ developed by a research team funded by the EU’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. The superglue not only helps the immune system fight cancer more effectively, but it also keeps undesirable side effects to a minimum. 

For more information 

Factsheet – EU Cancer Plan: Making a difference

Factsheet – New findings on cancer inequalities and national cancer action

Country Cancer Profiles

European Cancer Inequalities Registry

Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan

Cancer Screening, Diagnosis and Care  

Cervical cancer awareness month: EU4Health projects contrasting HPV

New “superglue” brings hope to cancer patients

Press release: Commission publishes Country Cancer Profiles ahead of World Cancer Day 

Share this article: