Despite being designated by the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce1 and Cancer Research UK as one of their four “cancers with substantial unmet need”, oesophageal cancer has traditionally been overlooked and under prioritised within key national policy frameworks.
In July 2019 Bristol-Myers Squibb published a report ‘What Needs To Be Doe To Improve Outcomes for Patients With Oesophageal Cancer’, highlighting both challenges and recommendations of ways to improve the patient experience and quality of life for people living with Oesophageal cancer.
“It is a challenging cancer to diagnose and treat. It is a cancer of unmet need, because the outcomes, in terms of survival, are poor and haven’t changed that much over the last five, ten years.” and “It is vitally important to raise awareness amongst oncologists that just because a cancer is not curable, that does not mean that it is not treatable.”
Professor Tom Crosby, (Chair), National Cancer Clinical Director for Wales
The report is the result of an expert roundtable discussion on issues facing patients and healthcare professionals in trying to improve outcomes for oesophageal cancer patients and Mimi-McCord, Chairman and Founder of Heartburn Cancer UK was part of the discussion group.
You can read the full report here.
