Cancer: fewer deaths, but in Italia there is a 15-month wait for new medicines

Every year in Europe, there are 2.7 million new cases of cancer, equivalent to 5 every minute. On the other hand, thanks to prevention campaigns and increasingly effective treatments, around 7.3 million cancer-related deaths have been prevented in the European Union since 1988. In 2026, an estimated 1,230,000 people will die from cancer, representing a decrease of 7.8 per cent for men and 5.9 per cent for women compared with the period 2020–2022.

Lung cancer in men has seen the most significant decline (-22.5 per cent). Innovation does not merely translate into lives saved, but also into the opportunity to reintegrate people who have experienced cancer back into society and the workforce. In Europe, in fact, indirect costs – linked primarily to the loss of productivity caused by the disease – have fallen by 16 per cent over approximately 30 years, from €97 billion in 1995 to €82 billion in 2023.

However, there are still issues regarding access to innovative treatments. In Europe, in fact, on average only 51 per cent of new medicines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) are made available, and it takes 655 days to gain access to them (in 2025). Italia’s figures are better, although the waiting times are still too long. Italia guarantees access to 89 per cent of the anti-cancer drugs approved by the EMA and, in this ranking, comes second in Europe after Germany (91 per cent) (Austria 86 per cent; Spain 73 per cent; France 68 per cent). In Italy, however, it takes 470 days – or around 15 months – for new treatments to become available. The call to speed up these timescales comes from the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (Aiom), at the scientific society’s official press conference at the Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), which opens today in Madrid.

“The decline in smoking amongst men is the reason behind the greater reduction in cancer mortality amongst the male population, and this trend is also evident in Italia,” explains Massimo Di Maio, President of Aiom. “Innovative treatments not only improve survival rates, but also facilitate a return to work and social life. The reduction in the indirect costs of cancer is a very significant achievement, driven by increasingly effective treatments, which must be available to all patients if we are to speak of equity in innovation. Over the course of a year, the time taken to access new anti-cancer drugs has increased by more than two months in Europe and by around one month in Italia. In 2024, it took an average of 586 days in Europe and 441 days in Italia. In Italia, critical issues remain regarding bureaucratic and administrative procedures because, following approval of reimbursement by the Italian Medicines Agency, in some regions it is necessary to wait for the drugs to be included in the Regional Therapeutic Formulary. Further delays may be caused by regional tendering processes and the need for inclusion in Hospital Therapeutic Formulary lists as well. For many years, AIOM has been highlighting regional and local delays in the provision of medicines. Immediate availability must be ensured following publication in the Official Gazette.”

The time it takes to access new treatments could be further delayed due to the ‘Most Favoured Nation’ (MFN) clause, established by the US administration, which aims to reduce the prices of American medicines by bringing them into line with the lower prices in other countries, including Italia. ‘This measure,’ continues Massimo Di Maio, ‘risks further prolonging waiting times and having serious repercussions on cancer care in our country. Pharmaceutical companies, in fact, might decide to delay the launch of new innovative cancer therapies in Europe and Italia, or not make them available at all, to prevent a low local price from affecting or reducing revenues in the more profitable US market.”