EURECCA (acronym for EUropean REgistry of Cancer CAre or EURopEan CanCer Audit), started in 2007 as an ECCO/ESSO initiative. EURECCA is an international multidisciplinary platform of clinicians and epidemiologists aiming to improve the quality of cancer care by data registration, feedback, forming plans for improvement and sharing knowledge of performance and science. EURECCA is registered as a foundation, based in Leiden.
Relevant background: Still considerable variation exists in Europe in cancer management and outcome. Moreover, there is an urgent need for transparent uniform international data collection and analysis, in order to monitor and learn from all aspects of cancer care and to provide feedback and education. Uniform datasets are necessary, not existent yet.
The strategic plan of EURECCA was written in 2013 to professionalize EURECCA in the next 6 years (2014-2020).
The vision - EURECCA will become the trademark for quality assurance in cancer management in Europe, and provide a dedicated infrastructure to audit patient outcome, monitor standardized cancer care and assure equal access for cancer patients to high quality care in all European countries. Synergy with the epidemiological network to collaboratively reach common goals is actively pursued to form one front. Web based dashboard with highly secured information on performance and enhancement proposals are future perspectives.
The mission of EURECCA is achieving and assuring high quality of multidisciplinary cancer management in Europe, accessible to all patients through the development and support of an international quality assurance structure, which is an audit structure, using anonymous patient data and compliant with national and international laws.
EURECCA’s goal is toenlarge the European platform and infrastructure to cooperate with national registries or audit structures, expand the coverage of cancer patient outcome data that is captured and audit the quality of multidisciplinary cancer care. Registration of outcome-based quality measurements will provide internal feed-back, benchmarking as well as transparency which will rapidly lead to improvements in cancer care.
EURECCA’s Key activities in the next six year will focus on
1. building a professional support structure
2. increase EURECCA network and optimize ICT structure for data collection and processing, auditing
3. development of cancer treatment guidelines, education and communication
4. fundraising and income generation.
Source: Six years plan to professionalize EURECCA, for more information please see the Strategic plan.
EURECCA has an internationally recognized set of expertise to augment Quality assurance in cancer care and access to expertise’s, and a large network all of value to stakeholders such as Physicians, Scientific societies, Patient organizations, Policy makers and Pharma:
- Data collection, large database mining, study facilitation and processing of data. Analysis with SPSS, STATA, SAS, excel etc. Epidemiologists and statisticians who are specialized in this field of merging different data bases.
- Defining uniform datasets.
- Reporting to all contacts from Cancer registries and/or national or regional audits. Writing manuscripts in collaborating with participants on the results of the analysis.
- Organizing international consensus conferences, symposia and meeting with the Board per tumour site group.
- Education (development of E-learning multidisciplinary educational program/workshops), assisting in guideline formation and writing patient friendly summaries. Active patient involvement in improvement of cancer care.
- Support multidisciplinary cancer care, integrated care pathways.
- Organize international collaboration in pioneering treatments to improve cancer care and outcome analysis (Such as non-surgical Wait&Watch after upfront CRT)
EURECCA TUMOUR SITE GROUPS 2014
- EURECCA ColoRectal Cancer, anno 2007
- EURECCA Upper GI cancer, anno 2009
- EURECCA Breast Cancer, anno 2012
- EURECCA Hepato-pancreatico-bilairy cancer, 2012
- EURECCA Prostate Cancer, anno 2013
- EURECCA Lung Cancer to be started 2014
FUTURE PROJECTS & ETHICS
Expand to other countries per tumour site group, and other tumour sites and invite them to participate multidisciplinary in turn of support and feedback on a regular basis. With the ethical promises that data will be anonymously be processed and reported, only predefined and approved analysis will be done. Withdrawal of data is possible at any moment in time.
EURECCA Structure and interactions with relevant stakeholders
EURECCA prefers a parallel independent infrastructure supporting tumour site group and national and regional cancer registries and audits. A pure synergy with the Epidemiology network. EURECCA will closely collaborate and deliver service and knowledge to the Blue organization by means of quality assurance projects, education, communication and support in guideline formation.
EURECCA is supported by ESSO and by ECCO-the European Cancer Organisation.
Please see the website of ECCO
Martine Piccart, President of ECCO, talks about her vision for ECCO.
Summary on the Consensus on colon & Rectal Cancer Care (October 2013)
Questionnaire: Value of the Summary of the Consensus Conference on Colon & Rectal Cancer
1: Boelens PG, Taylor C, Henning G, Marang-van de Mheen PJ, Espin E, Wiggers T, Gore-Booth J, Moss B, Valentini V, van de Velde CJ. Involving Patients in a Multidisciplinary European Consensus Process and in the Development of a 'Patient Summary of the Consensus Document for Colon and Rectal Cancer Care'. Patient. 2014 May 27. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 24862378.
2: Breugom AJ, Boelens PG, van den Broek CB, Cervantes A, Van Cutsem E, Schmoll HJ, Valentini V, van de Velde CJ. Quality assurance in the treatment of colorectal cancer: the EURECCA initiative. Ann Oncol. 2014 Aug;25(8):1485-1492. Epub 2014 Mar 26. Review. PubMed PMID: 24671742.
3: Tudyka V, Blomqvist L, Beets-Tan RG, Boelens PG, Valentini V, van de Velde CJ, Dieguez A, Brown G. EURECCA consensus conference highlights about colon & rectal cancer multidisciplinary management: the radiology experts review. Eur J Surg Oncol. 2014 Apr;40(4):469-75. doi: 10.1016/j.ejso.2013.10.029. Epub 2013 Dec 14. Review. PubMed PMID: 24439446.
4: Valentini V, Glimelius B, Haustermans K, Marijnen CA, Rödel C, Gambacorta MA, Boelens PG, Aristei C, van de Velde CJ. EURECCA consensus conference highlights about rectal cancer clinical management: the radiation oncologist's expert review. Radiother Oncol. 2014 Jan;110(1):195-8. doi:
10.1016/j.radonc.2013.10.024. Epub 2013 Nov 25. PubMed PMID: 24286634.
5: van de Velde CJ, Boelens PG, Tanis PJ, Espin E, Mroczkowski P, Naredi P, Pahlman L, Ortiz H, Rutten HJ, Breugom AJ, Smith JJ, Wibe A, Wiggers T, Valentini V. Experts reviews of the multidisciplinary consensus conference colon and rectal cancer 2012: science, opinions and experiences from the experts of surgery. Eur J Surg Oncol. 2014 Apr;40(4):454-68. doi: 10.1016/j.ejso.2013.10.013. Epub 2013 Nov 8. Review. PubMed PMID: 24268926.
6: van de Velde CJ, Boelens PG, Borras JM, Coebergh JW, Cervantes A, Blomqvist L, Beets-Tan RG, van den Broek CB, Brown G, Van Cutsem E, Espin E, Haustermans K, Glimelius B, Iversen LH, van Krieken JH, Marijnen CA, Henning G, Gore-Booth J, Meldolesi E, Mroczkowski P, Nagtegaal I, Naredi P, Ortiz H, Påhlman L, Quirke P, Rödel C, Roth A, Rutten H, Schmoll HJ, Smith JJ, Tanis PJ, Taylor C, Wibe A,
Wiggers T, Gambacorta MA, Aristei C, Valentini V. EURECCA colorectal: multidisciplinary management: European consensus conference colon & rectum. Eur J Cancer. 2014 Jan;50(1):1.e1-1.e34. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2013.06.048. Epub 2013 Oct 31. PubMed PMID: 24183379.
7: van de Velde CJ, Aristei C, Boelens PG, Beets-Tan RG, Blomqvist L, Borras JM, van den Broek CB, Brown G, Coebergh JW, Cutsem EV, Espin E, Gore-Booth J, Glimelius B, Haustermans K, Henning G, Iversen LH, Han van Krieken J, Marijnen CA, Mroczkowski P, Nagtegaal I, Naredi P, Ortiz H, Påhlman L, Quirke P, Rödel C, Roth A, Rutten HJ, Schmoll HJ, Smith J, Tanis PJ, Taylor C, Wibe A, Gambacorta MA, Meldolesi E, Wiggers T, Cervantes A, Valentini V; European Registration of Cancer Care. EURECCA colorectal: multidisciplinary mission statement on better
care for patients with colon and rectal cancer in Europe. Eur J Cancer. 2013 Sep;49(13):2784-90. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2013.04.032. Epub 2013 Jun 14. PubMed PMID: 23769991.