Central and Eastern Europe: A crucible for clinical cancer innovation?

Clinical research in oncology is essential for improving patient outcomes; however, cancer care provision and access to novel therapies remains highly heterogeneous across Europe, particularly between Western and Eastern EU27 regions. This has been further compounded by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, severely disrupting regional cancer treatment, research infrastructures and clinical trials activity. Challenges to clinical research in the Central and Eastern regions of the European Union (EU27-CEE) are multifactorial, relating to patient access, local implementation and conduct of trials, education, infrastructure and regulatory procedures. Nevertheless, EU27-CEE comprises a very active clinical trial landscape with its specialist workforce, high productivity and quality of data, empowering a growing regional pharmaceutical industry and establishing itself as an important clinical cancer research hub for conducting global trials. Consequently, patients recruited in EU27-CEE exercise an important impact on global cancer drug development. Poland has proven to be a model for biomedical innovation, serving as the region's blueprint for a productive clinical trials ecosystem. Multi-stakeholder collaboration and patient-centric approaches are required to streamline procedures for quicker trial initiation, simpler trial conduct, and better cross-border access. Recognizing these challenges and opportunities, we have developed, through a consultative approach, a Call to Action that, if implemented, would enhance the cancer clinical trials landscape in EU27-CEE countries and empower patient access to the latest advances and therapies in cancer drug development.