Cancer remains one of the most significant public health challenges. It is the second-leading cause of death in EU countries, and the rising number of cancer cases – now increasingly affecting people under 50 – poses a growing social and economic burden. Diagnosis at younger ages means longer treatment and monitoring for patients, placing sustained pressure on healthcare systems and affecting patients’ well-being and socio-economic situation for many years. By 2050, the EU27 will face markedly higher demand for cancer care, with population ageing driving an estimated 59% rise in real per-capita cancer spending. This surge is occurring at a time when public budgets are already strained by competing priorities and economic uncertainty. Ensuring that cancer care delivers clear value for patients and health systems is essential.
Delivering High Value Cancer Care provides cross-country comparable data and policy perspectives on three pressing priorities to ensure high-value cancer care that contributes to health outcomes and people’s quality of life: timely access to services, evidence‑based and efficient care, and people‑centred approaches. The report uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative analyses, including a collection of new internationally comparable indicators as well as insights gained through a policy survey covering 34 countries, consultations with stakeholders, and an in-depth literature review.
The report shows that opportunities remain to deliver higher value in cancer care for patients and health systems. Delays in cancer diagnosis and treatment, variations in care quality and clinical practice, and services that are not sufficiently aligned with people’s needs and preferences lead to poorer survival and quality of life, and can result in unnecessary treatment that wastes precious healthcare resources. Strengthening integrated cancer pathways, aligning on and reinforcing evidence‑based standards and performance monitoring, optimising resources and capitalising on innovation, as well as embedding people‑centredness across the cancer journey can enhance value and make cancer care more efficient.
This publication is part of the European Cancer Inequalities Registry, one of the ten flagship initiatives of the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, which aims to address the full disease pathway via partnership, research and innovation. The European Cancer Inequalities Registry provides sound and reliable data on cancer prevention and care to identify trends, disparities and inequalities between Member States and Regions. Under this umbrella, the OECD and European Commission have published two series of Country Cancer Profiles for each of the EU Member States, Norway and Iceland (https://www.oecd.org/en/about/projects/eu-country-cancer-profiles-2025.html), and have produced this second analytical report on Delivering High Value Cancer Care following on the 2023 analytical report on Cancer Prevention and Early Detection.