What are rare cancers?
Around 5.1 million people in the European Union (EU) + the United Kingdom are affected by rare cancers and there are more than 650,000 new cases diagnosed every year. [1]
Individually, each of the 198 identified rare cancers is considered "rare", but collectively they represent about 24% of all cancer cases diagnosed in the EU27 + the United Kingdom each year[2], including rare adult solid tumours (13%) and rare haematological cancers (8%) as well as all childhood cancers (1%).[3]
You will find additional information on rare cancers below which can help you gain a deeper understanding of these challenging conditions and how they are currently being defined and structured by leading experts.
References
- Secretariat of the Special Committee on Beating Cancer. Background Note on Paediatric and Rare Cancers. European Parliament, 15 Feb. 2021.
- Gatta G, van der Zwan JM, Casali PG, Siesling S, Dei Tos AP, Kunkler I, Otter R, Licitra L, Mallone S, Tavilla A, Trama A, Capocaccia R; RARECARE working group. Rare cancers are not so rare: the rare cancer burden in Europe. Eur J Cancer. 2011 Nov;47(17):2493-511. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2011.08.008. Epub 2011 Oct 25. PMID: 22033323.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2011.08.008 - Gatta G, Capocaccia R, Botta L, Mallone S, De Angelis R, Ardanaz E, Comber H, Dimitrova N, Leinonen MK, Siesling S, Van der Zwan JM, Van Eycken L, Visser O, P Žakelj M, Anderson LA, Bella F, Kaire I, Otter R, Stiller CA, Trama A., RARECARE working group Burden and centralised treatment in Europe of rare tumours: results of RARECAREnet—a population-based study. The Lancet Oncology. 2017 Aug. VOLUME 18, ISSUE 8, P1022-1039. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(17)30445-X