Prioritising cancer research under the 10th EU Framework Programme
The European Union (EU) plays an critical role in driving oncology research in Europe, mainly through the EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation - the largest EU schemes providing public funding for research, across areas and sectors.
Horizon Europe is the 9th and current EU Framework Programme, running from 2021-2027 with a total budget of €95.5 billion. As part of Horizon Europe, the EU launched its Research and Innovation Mission on Cancer, which aims at “Improving the lives of more than 3 million people by 2030 through prevention, cure and for those affected by cancer including their families, to live longer and better.”
Horizon Europe will be succeeded by the 10th EU Framework Programme (FP10) which will run from 2028-2034. The legislative proposals for FP10 are planned to be put forward by the European Commission in mid-2025.
To effectively tackle the scourge of cancer across Europe, achieve the goals of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the EU Mission on Cancer, and fund all excellent proposals from the research community, ESMO considers it crucial that a ring-fenced budget of at least €200 billion is made available for FP10, whilst allocating a significant share to the ‘Health’ cluster which is currently placed under Pillar 2 of the Programme (under Horizon Europe).
As Europe’s cancer burden is expected to increase from over 4.4 million new cancer cases in 2022 to 5.33 million in 2040, ESMO is calling for cancer research to become a key priority of the FP10 programme and remain high on the EU’s research agenda.
Specifically, to maximise the potential of public R&I investments for cancer research, and deliver tangible results to patients with cancer, ESMO believes that the following should be prioritised throughout the FP10 programme as a whole, as well as its Strategic Plans, Work Programmes, and Calls for Proposals:
- Supporting research on personalised therapies for molecularly-defined tumour subsets;
- Improving the quality of cancer care through the development and EU-wide uptake of clinical practice guidelines;
- Enhancing cancer prevention research;
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions for clinical decision support, personalised prevention and precision diagnosis/therapy of patients with cancer;
- Boosting investigations into the multidimensional causes of cancer;
- Addressing the needs of ageing populations;
- Improving the length and quality of survival of everyone diagnosed with cancer.
For further information, please contact: publicpolicy@esmo.org