Opening speech by President von der Leyen at the Conference ‘Advancing Brain Cancer Research: From policy action to scientific breakthroughs'

Thank you so much, dear Sophie.

Dear guests,

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to offer a very brief introduction. It was very important for me to be here. First of all, I want to thank all of you, and especially you, Sophie, for organising this event on World Brain Tumour Day. This is deeply important to me because, with all the crises we are experiencing around us, it is essential that we remain committed to beating cancer. You are familiar with the figures: every year, around 2.7 million people in the European Union are diagnosed with cancer. Around 42,000 people annually are diagnosed with brain tumours, and 36,000 lose their lives. Behind every single figure is a human story. A person suffering and fighting. Loved ones who care for them, stand by them and hope for the best.

Dear Sophie,

You and your children experienced this first-hand. That is why it was important for me to come the moment you asked me. It was an immediate yes. But there is also a second reason why I wanted to come to this session specifically. I was just 13 years old when my little sister died of cancer. She was only 11. She had a reticulosarcoma, a very rare cancer, completely incurable at the time. I still vividly remember the helplessness of my parents, but also of the medical staff around her. Ten years later, I studied medicine myself, and after my studies I started to work as an assistant in obstetrics and gynaecology. Of course, there was also the oncology ward. But I must say that there, I also experienced cases that ended well. There was healing. There was hope. There was progress and groundbreaking research that truly made a difference. Another ten years later, one of my brothers became ill with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He lost the battle, and it was a heartbreaking farewell. But today, the five-year relative survival rate for non-Hodgkin lymphoma is approximately 74%. That figure speaks for itself.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

What I am trying to say is that we can, and we must, beat cancer. Thanks to medical professionals and researchers like you, we are making tangible progress. I often think back to my years studying medicine. Who would have imagined at that time that we could vaccinate against certain cancers on a large scale? Or that immunotherapies could defeat cancer? At the time, this was almost unthinkable for a medical student. Today, as you all know, it has become common practice. That is why Europe has placed the fight against cancer at the heart of its agenda with Europe's Beating Cancer Plan. We are investing EUR 4 billion in the fight against cancer, including EUR 600 million dedicated to research projects. We have made HPV vaccination the standard recommendation for both girls and boys. Some Member States have already vaccinated 90% of young girls, and we are seeing a dramatic reduction in cervical cancer rates. But there is still much more to do. I want to be very brief on four points.

First, 40% of cancer cases are considered preventable, so we should focus even more on prevention. This is not only a question of lifestyle. It is also a question of screening, and of access to high-quality screening for everyone.

Second, we must act faster and more efficiently, particularly when it comes to developing treatments. This is one of the goals of the European Biotech Act. It will help accelerate and simplify approvals for clinical trials. I know that clinical trials are often the bottleneck, and it is absolutely essential that we improve in this area, and we will. We also need better data-sharing through the European Health Data Space. Better data-sharing means better understanding and better treatment, especially in the age of AI. We are sitting on a wealth of data, and with the highest standards of privacy, we can use this data for the benefit of people who are ill or recovering.

Third, we must address the inequalities that still persist in early detection and treatment. Our goal in the European Union must be that every person has equal access to high-quality care, regardless of where they live, what they earn or their level of education.

And my final point: it is wonderful that more and more people are surviving cancer, but we must strengthen support for survivors. Too often, survivors face higher insurance premiums or difficult loan conditions, for example. That is why the right to be forgotten is so important. Many Member States now provide such protections, and we will persevere until every survivor in Europe receives the same treatment and the same opportunities.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Sophie,

I started with sad stories, but I want to end with a story of hope. When I was a medical student, I worked night shifts to support the nurses, as students often do to earn a little extra money. I worked on a children's cancer ward. There was a little girl there, six years old, who had both a reticulosarcoma and an osteosarcoma. She survived both, for many years. Then the cancer returned. And she survived a second time. She went on to live a full life. She completed her education, built a career, raised a family and had two children. All her hopes became reality. And I think this must also be the motto of our work: to turn the hopes of people into reality.

Thank you again for allowing me to address you today.

This was very important for me. And I wish you all a wonderful session.