Cancer is the second cause of death in Europe, responsible for 23% of deaths. However, the first position is expected to reach 2035. And it is that cancer cases increased almost 60% between 1995 and 2022, from 2.1 million cases to 3.2 million. This was largely due to the aging of the population, although between 30 and 50% of cases respond to avoidable risk factors.
This panorama comes from the comparative report on cancer in Europe 2025, prepared by the Swedish Institute of Health Economics (IHE) for the Federation of the European Pharmaceutical Industry (EFPIA) for two decades.
The document reflects how new diagnoses have increased almost 60% in the analyzed period (1995-2022), while mortality has done 9%. In addition, the report underlines how 12 countries have managed to reduce the number of deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, which is a turning point in the fight against the disease.
In Spain, the five -year cancer survival ratio increased from 56 to 59% between 2000 and 2020, according to public data collected in the report. The work compares the data available in 15 countries (among them Spain) with Sweden – the country with better rates – to conclude that if they are reached, 200,000 lives per year could be saved only in these countries.
Since 1995, the European drug agency has approved 194 new drugs and has authorized new indications for more than 300 previously approved medications. An innovation whose arrival has also accelerated in recent years, thanks to personalized medicine or molecular diagnoses. For example, five -year survival in Multiple Myeloma went from 30% in the 1990s to 60% in 2020, which means having saved about 13,000 lives.
In addition to approved medications, clinical trials in Oncology concentrate 29% of all initiated in 2023 worldwide (in our country were 37% of the launched in 2024).
Regarding the investment, the report highlights that, although direct investment in cancer has increased almost double between 1995 and 2023, indirect costs (in hospitalizations, disability or others) have decreased, and that also the amount regarding global health investment has remained stable around 6-7%. In this sense, this proportion is much lower than the impact of the disease, which causes 23% of deaths and 17% of the years of life lost or lived with disabilities.
Focus on inequality
The fight against cancer in Europe presents strong inequalities in countries, both in research and investment and access to new medicines. The document affects structural barriers that limit equitable access to cancer medicines, including national pricing and reimbursement processes, insufficiency of health budgets and infrastructure deficiencies and health system organization.
According to the latest indicators of access to innovative therapies (WAIT) of 2024, in Spain they were available to January 2024 60% of the oncological drugs approved between 2019 and 2022, with an average in the EU-27 of 67% and disparities ranging from 96% in Denmark to less than 20% in Estonia, Slovakia or Romania.
Investment inequalities are also patent, with per capita amounts that vary between the 100 euros of Hungary to the more than 600 of Switzerland. In Spain the cost is below 200 euros, while the EU-27 average is close to 300 euros, according to national data collected by the IHE.
After the analysis, the report puts the focus on the need for policies that favor equity in the treatment of this disease so relevant to Europe. Investing in research and innovation, guaranteeing equitable access to diagnostic treatments and tools, taking advantage of real life data and applying health technologies evaluations in a coherent way are key measures to improve cancer results and reduce inequalities.
It is important to remember that drugs against cancer have a direct impact on mortality reduction. According to a recent study on cancer and mortality innovation in Spain, conducted by Professor Frank R. Lichtenberg, from Columbia University (USA), new cancer treatments managed to reduce cancer deaths almost 30% in Spain in the last decade.
In this context, the pharmaceutical sector remains committed to the development of new therapies and collaboration with administrations to improve access to innovation. For this, it is essential to continue promoting investment in R&D, improve the evaluation of the value of medicines and reinforce access policies, ensuring that the benefits of research are translated into real improvements for patients.
