News

04/23: The new EU project CCI4EU gets started

On 1 May 2023 the new EU project „Comprehensive Cancer Infrastructure for the European Union“ (CCI4EU) will officially start. The project is funded under the Horizon Europe Mission Cancer.
CCI4EU has a duration of 36 months and has the following overall objectives:

• Support EU Member States and associated countries in developing or improving existing or future Comprehensive Cancer Infrastructures (CCIs).
• Promote research innovation and digital capacity building in cancer care.
• Ensure that 90% of cancer patients are treated in CCIs by 2030 (according to one of the four main action areas of the European Plan to Fight Cancer).

The project is coordinated by the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI). The project network consists of 55 partners, including major European cancer organisations, cancer centres and other representatives from all EU Member States and several associated countries.

The German Cancer Society takes the lead of Work Package 2 „Definition of criteria for Comprehensive Cancer Infrastructures (CCIs) using a CCI maturity model (CCI-MM)“. The aim of Work Package 2 is to develop, in collaboration with other stakeholders and partners, a joint understanding, definition and scope of CCIs along with a set of criteria to assess and improve CCIs in all member states. The defined quality criteria will be embedded in a maturity model which will be the contextual backdrop to assess CCI maturity and to develop tailored interventions to increase the individual CCIs maturity level.

03/23: Feedback Session: European Quality Assurance Scheme for Breast Cancer Services

DKG/ECC certification programme participated in the testing phase of the European Quality Assurance Scheme for Breast Cancer Services (ECIBC). During the pilot run of the QA scheme, selected services and bodies have been testing the applicability of the accredited certification approach. In a 1 day long meeting, feedback from all participating entites was collected and discussed. Overall everybody agreed that QA Scheme has worked very well, but with some room for improvement. Once the scheme and its manuals are updated, considering the results of the testing phase, the formal version of the scheme can be released.

02/23: WiZen Study

Treatment in certified cancer centres of the German Cancer Society (Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft e. V.) increases the chance of survival of cancer patients by up to 26 percent: This central finding of the WiZen study („Effectiveness of Care in Oncological Centres“) is to be incorporated into care in the future. The results of the study will be forwarded to the corresponding institutions in the health care system for examination and implementation. This decision was made by the Innovation Committee of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) after evaluating the project results.

Click here for the results report and resolution text of the WiZen study in German

Click here for an overview in English summarizing the main results.

01/23: New audit documents

The auditing documents for 2023 including an updated Catalogue of Requirements and Data Sheet are now available for download on the website. In case of any questions please do not hesitate to contact us under info@ecc-cert.org

12/22: Kick-off CraNE WP 6

On 5-6 December 2022 the work package 6 (WP) „Organisation of high-quality cancer care in Comprehensive Cancer Care Networks (CCCN)“ under the leadership of the DKG had its kick-off meeting in Berlin. Over the next two years, the working group with representatives from 35 member organisations from 19 member states will develop and pilot recommendations using the example of lung cancer centres in order to establish and expand access to quality-assured oncological care in all member states. Furthermore, the working group will define and establish interfaces between care and research and between CCCs and CCCNs. We are looking forward to implementing certified Comprehensive Cancer Care Networks together with our partners!

11/22: EDIUM study’s findings

In the EDIUM study, Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs) and short-term clinical outcome quality parameters in colorectal cancer were investigated 12 months after the start of treatment and the results of Certified Colorectal Cancer Centres were compared. The first results have now been published: differences between colorectal cancer centers were found, which may stimulate measures for quality development. Clinicians can use the results to identify patient groups at higher risk for poor PROs.

You can find the article here.

10/22: New Joint Action CraNE

In October 2022, the Joint Action „Creation of National Comprehensive Cancer Centres and EU-Networking“ (CraNE) started as a successor to the JA iPAAC, which ended in December 2021.
The aim of CraNE is to establish an EU network of recognised Comprehensive Cancer Centres (CCC) on the basis of so-called Comprehensive Cancer Infrastructures (CCI). These are to ensure that 90 percent of European cancer patients have access to high-quality, quality-assured oncological care. In the project, the German Cancer Society and the European Cancer Centre Programme will take over the leadership of the work package „Organisation of high-quality cancer care in Comprehensive Cancer Care Networks (CCCN)“. Over the next two years, the working group with representatives from 35 member organisations from 21 member states will develop and pilot recommendations using the example of lung cancer centres in order to establish and expand access to quality-assured oncological care in all member states. Furthermore, the working group will define and establish interfaces between care and research and between CCCs and CCCNs.

08/22: Findings from PCO study published in World Journal of Urology

The PCO study investigates the extent to which patient-reported outcomes differ between Certified Prostate Cancer Centres. Now, the first results based on data from more than 7,000 patients have been published in the World Journal of Urology. They show: There are differences in outcome quality between Prostate Cancer Centres after radical prostatectomy. This is particularly true for continence and erectile function. The differences and how they can be reduced are currently being discussed and addressed in the „Working Group PCO-Reduce“.

Your can find the article here.

07/22: Study published on results of quality indicators

A recent publication in the Journal of Cancer of Research and Clinical Oncology examines the development of the implementation rate of guideline-based quality indicators for the treatment of ovarian and cervical cancer. The study presents the outcomes of certified gynaecological cancer centres between 2015-2019, as well as looking at the status of guideline-based care and identifying interventions to improve implementation rates. The results of the study show that a division of the quality indicators into two categories, namely process organisation and treatment procedures, allows a differentiated consideration of the improvement potential of quality indicators and thus better tailored improvement measures can be defined. The study demonstrates that guideline-based quality indicators make an important contribution to quality assurance and improvement in everyday clinical practice and that a combination of different measures is necessary to sustainably anchor quality in health care.

Click here for the article.