A call to action to intervene on the many gaps in the care of patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer (ABC/mBC), the European School of Oncology announced at the 15th St. Gallen International Breast Cancer Conference in Vienna, Austria.
Although much progress has been made in the diagnosis, management and outcomes of early breast cancer, such improvements have been slower for people living with mBC. It is estimated that over half a million breast cancer deaths occurred worldwide in 2015, primarily from mBC. By 2030, the number of deaths attributable to mBC is estimated to reach over 800.000, demonstrating a 43% increase in absolute number in 15 years.
The “Global mBC Vision 2025 Call-to-Action” is intended to catalyze change and improve patient outcomes within the next decade: it details 10 key gaps and actionable imperatives across patient care, societal support and scientific investment, first identified through the Global Status of Advanced/Metastatic Breast Cancer 2005-2015 Decade Report, commissioned by Pfizer, which was the first comprehensive global assessment of ABC/mBC across the care continuum, as well as political, economic, societal and scientific landscapes.
The imperatives outlined in the call to action will be furthered by the ABC Global Alliance, an ESO-led multi-stakeholder platform that was formed in 2016 for organisations to collaborate on projects aimed at improving the lives and extending survival of ABC/mBC patients. The initiative will be finally launched at the ABC4 meeting in Lisbon in November 2017.
“The Global Status Decade Report revealed substantial and worrying gaps in care, access to resources, support and treatment outcomes for patients,” said Fatima Cardoso, director of the breast unit at the Champalimaud Clinical Centre, Lisbon, Portugal and chair of the newly established ABC Global Alliance. “This Call-to-Action is a first step in addressing these gaps. However, to succeed in activating programmes that make a real difference in ABC/mBC, we need to transition the mBC Vision 2025 Call-to-Action to a global multi-stakeholder platform that is dedicated to transforming the call-to-action into reality.”
The initiative will now open a consultative phase to involve breast cancer organisations around the world; the final aim is to encourage the entire breast cancer community and the global public to work alongside each other to help change the future of breast cancer around the world.
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