A £1m project to improve communication between health workers in Europe has been launched.
Eurocancercoms aims to improve treatment and care by easing the flow of information between scientists, doctors, pharmaceutical firms and patients.
The initiative, funded by the European Commission, will look at how cancer information is passed on, identify bottlenecks in the system and offering solutions.
It will use internet technology to create a networked cancer community of health professionals, patients, consumer groups and industry representatives.
There will be better access to trial results via new databases which can be searched by patients as well as experts.
The project, led by the European Cancer Organisation (ECCO), got under way with the launch of a website [see below].
ECCO president Professor Alexander Eggermont said: “There is an urgent need in Europe to improve communications between everyone working in cancer and between them and patients.
“Europe has an increasing number of cancer patients and worse outcomes for care, despite having better quality clinical research than the USA.
“Cancer survival is unacceptably variable in different European countries. A previous study identified poor communication between all those involved in cancer care as one of the main reasons for these poor outcomes.”
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