World Cancer Day: 4 February 2012
News
The European Medicines Agency supports World Cancer Day , which is taking place on Saturday 4 February 2012.
World Cancer Day is held each year on 4 February to raise awareness about cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection and treatment. The day is led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).
The Agency plays a key role in the authorisation of medicines to treat cancer. In the European Union (EU), all new anticancer medicines must be authorised centrally at a European level on the recommendation of the Agency, rather than in each Member State separately.
To date, the European Commission has authorised over 100 medicines for the treatment or prevention of cancer or its symptoms on the recommendation of the Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP).
The Agency also publishes scientific guidelines recommending how companies study the safety and efficacy of anticancer medicines. These are intended to help applicants preparing marketing-authorisation applications.
The Agency works closely with organisations representing patients with cancer, including the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC), a group committed to improving the prevention, screening, early diagnosis and best treatment of cancer, reducing disparity and inequality across the EU. The Agency also interacts with organisations representing healthcare professionals in the cancer field.