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Credit: European Association of Urology
Brussels/Arnhem, 25 April 2023 - The EU4Health programme has approved PRAISE-U (PRostate cancer Awareness and Initiative for Screening in the European Union), an ambitious three-year project involving 25 institutions from 12 countries. PRAISE-U’s mission is to design a nationally-tailored cost-effective early detection algorithm for prostate cancer screening in the EU to reduce morbidity and mortality caused by prostate cancer while avoiding overdiagnosis and overtreatment.
Prostate cancer is the number 1 and 2 cancer killing men in northern and western Europe respectively. It is the most frequent male cancer in Europe with important consequences for healthcare systems. Every year, around 450,000 European men are diagnosed with prostate cancer. Delayed diagnosis can lead to higher rates of metastasised disease, which is a disease state that coincides with a high mortality rate and a prolonged negative impact on the quality of life. It has been shown that organised repeated screening results in early detection can reduce suffering and dying from prostate cancer.1 Modern tools and strategies can streamline the process to detect cancer when it poses a threat to the patient.
In direct partnership with a network of consortium members, PRAISE-U works to encourage early detection and diagnosis of prostate cancer in EU Member States through smart early detection and stimulate the implementation of early detection programmes in Member States. By aligning protocols and guidelines across Member States and enabling the collection and analysis of relevant data, the project aims to reduce prostate cancer morbidity and mortality rates in Europe with customised and risk-based screening programmes.
Prof. Hein Van Poppel, chair of the EAU Policy Office: “The diagnostic pathway for prostate cancer has improved tremendously over the past decades2. PRAISE-U marks a new era in early detection of prostate cancer. Through this project, we want to provide clear guidelines and quality assurance tools that can be used by pilot sites to demonstrate that risk-based approaches are effective, feasible, acceptable and cost-effective. In our consortium, we have a strong partnership with the right mix of international academic experts, healthcare professionals, social scientists, economists, patients and health system pilot sites to make this a success.”
To achieve PRAISE-U’s goals a multi-disciplinary consortium centred around Europe’s leading clinicians and researchers in prostate cancer has been established. The consortium includes experts in prostate cancer and decision-making, and a network of hospitals, medical societies, patient advocates and national authorities.
| European Association of Urology | National Cancer Institute, Lithuania |
| Erasmus University Medical Center, Cancer Institute, Rotterdam | Ghent University |
| European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer | Health Service Executive, Ireland |
| University Research Clinic for Cancer Screening, Randers Regional Hospital, Central Denmark Region | Estonian Urological Society |
| Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic | University College Dublin, National University of Ireland, Dublin |
| University Medical Center Utrecht | World Organization of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of General Practitioners/Family Physicians |
| European Cancer Organisation | Movember Foundation |
| Lower Silesian Oncology, Pulmonology and Hematology Center | International Agency for Research on Cancer |
| National Institute of Public Health, National Institute of Hygiene - National Research Institute, Poland | European Society of Urogenital Radiology |
| Department of Health of Galicia, Consellería de Sanidade de Galicia | Europa Uomo |
| Althaia Xarxa Assistencial Universitaria | The Czech Urological Society |
| Region Västra Götaland, Sweden | Region Stockholm, Sweden |
| Region Skåne, Sweden |
Guenther Carl-Ernst, Chairman of Europa Uomo: “We are delighted to support the implementation of PRAISE-U and we are so glad prostate cancer is finally getting the attention it deserves as the EU’s most common male cancer. For us, every man whose cancer is detected too late, is one man too many.”
The PRAISE-U project is broken down into six work packages. The four core WPs are designed to gather knowledge, develop protocols for screening programs, pilot test the developed protocols, and evaluate the results. The two overarching WPs provide a framework for the entire project and include coordinating the project and disseminating the results. Each WP builds on the work of the previous one, and together they contribute to the ultimate goal of developing a strategy that will reduce prostate cancer morbidity and mortality while minimizing overdiagnosis.
On 25-26 April, more than 50 members of PRAISE-U participated in the kick-off event for a new Pan-European prostate cancer screening initiative in Brussels.