On 3 February, on the eve of World Cancer Day, Cancer Patients Europe (CPE) organised a high-level policy event at the European Parliament in Brussels, dedicated to advancing nutritional care in oncology by bridging the gap between awareness and real-world implementation, hosted by MEP Michalis Hadjipantela (EPP, Cyprus).
The event marked the launch of the CPE White Paper “Nutrition in Cancer Care: Closing the Gap Between Awareness and Action”, which outlines evidence-based recommendations to better integrate nutritional care into cancer policy and clinical practice.
Cancer-related malnutrition affects up to one in three patients — and up to 80% at advanced stages — contributing to oncology treatment interruptions, increased toxicity, reduced quality of life, and lower survival. Yet nutritional care remains fragmented, underfunded, and insufficiently integrated into oncology pathways.
Drawing on the experiences of more than 2,500 cancer patients across 12 European countries, the White Paper reveals a persistent gap between awareness and implementation. While 70% of patients understand that appropriate nutrition supports cancer treatment, only 1 in 5 undergo nutritional screening. Just 26% receive information from healthcare professionals, and only 14% are monitored over time. Post-treatment support remains limited, and access to dietitians varies significantly across the EU Member States.
The message is clear: nutrition is recognised as important by patients, but it is not delivered as standard care.
The White Paper’s main goal is to move nutrition from the margins to the mainstream of cancer policy and practice. It calls for:
Embedding nutrition into cancer care delivers clear benefits: improved treatment tolerance, fewer complications, better recovery, and stronger health system efficiency.
Nutrition is not a lifestyle add-on — it is a clinical necessity
By launching this White Paper at the European Parliament, CPE sought to translate patient evidence into policy action and accountability. The event brought together policymakers, clinicians, researchers, industry, and patients to ensure that patient voices drive meaningful reform.
As Francisco Lozano, President of Cancer Patients Europe, stated:
“Nutrition is fundamental to effective cancer care. When malnutrition is overlooked, treatment outcomes are compromised. We developed this White Paper to close the gap between evidence and practice and to ensure that nutritional support becomes a standard, measurable component of oncology care across Europe.”
CPE reaffirms its commitment to equitable, patient-centred cancer care across Europe. To achieve the goals of the EU Beating Cancer Plan, nutritional care must become a standard, measurable, and adequately funded component of oncology care in all Member States.
MEP Michalis Hadjipantela discusses how policymakers can close the malnutrition gap at the benefit of patients and recovery
- The recently launched White Paper on Nutrition in Cancer shows that only 1 in 5 cancer patients reporting nutrition-related problems affecting their quality of life received systematic support. How could MEPs act to close this gap?
Michalis Hadjipantela: The findings of this White Paper are deeply concerning, yet they are not surprising. For too long, nutrition has been treated as an afterthought in cancer care, rather than a clinical necessity. This must change.
We have concrete tools at our disposal. First, we must use the Europe's Beating Cancer Plan to push for mandatory nutritional screening at diagnosis and throughout treatment, embedding it into oncology pathways as a standard of care. Second, we have a responsibility to account for this in the budgetary process. Through the SANT Committee’s Guidelines for the 2027 EU Health Budget, we are already calling for strong and sustained investment in cancer care, which must include nutritional support.
Third, we must demand that the Commission sets EU-wide minimum standards for dietitian access, so that a cancer patient's right to nutritional care does not depend on their postcode. The evidence is there; what is missing is the practical will to translate it into binding commitments.
This was a very important issue raised in the event I co-hosted, together with Cancer Patients Europe, on cancer and nutritional support.
- The White Paper underscores a double disparity: between patient awareness and system-level implementation, and inequities between Southern/Eastern and Northern/Western Europe. How can Europe address regional inequalities to ensure more equitable patient-centered outcomes?
MH: The disparity identified in the White Paper reflects a broader and persistent challenge in European healthcare. Awareness alone does not translate into action, while best practices in one corner of Europe remain invisible in another.
The European Reference Networks (ERNs) offer a ready-made architecture for precisely this kind of knowledge sharing across borders. I am a vocal advocate of ERNs and their added value in rare diseases. I believe we should be scaling them up, not leaving them underfinanced, in order to deliver beyond their initial scope. I have consistently called for stronger ERNs, including in the context of complex conditions, to reduce regional inequalities in access to specialist care.
Additionally, the reinforcement of cross-border healthcare directives and the use of EU structural funds to build capacity in lagging health systems are essential levers. Cyprus, like many smaller Member States, knows firsthand what it means to send patients abroad for treatment that should be available at home. Equity is not a slogan, it is a measurable policy outcome that we must hold ourselves accountable for.
The European Union has invested a lot in cohesion between member states, regions and communities. We need to continue investing in cohesion, particularly as the new MFF is being negotiated, to build on its success. It’s not only a health or an economic issue. Europe is stronger when it evolves all its members, leaving no citizen behind.
As more than half of patients report that nutrition is not considered a real part of their treatment, how can it be turned into a fundamental, well-funded component of high-quality cancer care across Member States?
MH: The answer starts with recognising that nutrition is not supportive care, it is an equal part of a treatment. Malnutrition directly affects treatment tolerance, recovery, and survival. Europe's Beating Cancer Plan must be updated to make nutritional care an explicit, funded pillar, not just a footnote. At the Member State level, we need national cancer strategies to include nutrition steering groups, monitored performance indicators, and reimbursement frameworks for medical nutrition.
I am also a strong advocate for clinical trials in this space, particularly in smaller Member States like Cyprus, which often lag behind in research participation. Closing the nutrition gap in cancer care requires not just funding, but evidence, standards, and supporting policy.
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