Background
In the last 60 years, IARC has made a substantial contribution to lifelong learning of health and research professionals around the world, in the areas of expertise of the agency. In 2020, the Agency had the opportunity to expand its traditional target audience to oncology professionals, with the launch of a new collaboration on learning and capacity-building activities with the European Society for Medical Oncology.
Objectives
To explore new opportunities for the dissemination of up-to-date and evidence-based knowledge on cancer prevention.
To tailor the resources to new audiences’ needs and constraints.Methods
Initially structured around content from the 2020 IARC World Cancer Report, the collaboration embraced a wider scope in 2024-2025. The overall initiative was implemented in five phases. For each phase, a dedicated workplan was elaborated, with an agreement signed between IARC and ESMO.
A joint survey on learning interests and needs was co-developed during the second phase of the project and conducted in 2022, collecting input from266 oncology professionals from 79 countries. The results of this survey directly fed into the workplans of the subsequent phases of the initiative.
Results
Results from the IARC-ESMO survey revealed that only 14% of the respondents estimated that their practice integrated sufficient prevention activities. Barriers included the lack of time (42,3%), the lack of education and training (31,8%), and the uncertainty about the trustfulness of sources of information (26,8%). Priority topics for future learning resources and events were identified.
Between 2020 and 2025, IARC and ESMO organized 12 live webinars, featuring international keynote speakers from various disciplines and addressing priority topics from the survey. The number of webinar registrants increased steadily over the years, as well as the number of countries from which participants registered.
Self-paced learning resources were also developed to cover priority topics from the survey: two highly immersive and interactive e-learning courses on Pollution and Cancer, and one interactive e-learning courses to discover and use the IARC Atlas for Breast Cancer Early Detection.
To address the need for trustable, ready-to-use, and evidence-based learning and teaching resources, three teaching toolkits (sets of PPT slides, notes, and exercises) were developed and published under a creative commons licence. An Infographics Resource Centre was also set up, including 20 ready-to-use IARC infographics available for download in 4 formats (print and social medias).
A comics series of five evidence-based stories illustrating situation in the life of oncology professionals where cancer prevention is or should be integrated was produced and submitted for publication in the Journal of Clinical Oncology – Global Oncology.
Conclusion
In five years, IARC and ESMO have succeeded in raising the profile of cancer prevention withing the oncology community. The collaboration with ESMO members resulted in the production of different types of learning resources, addressing the diversity of learning needs and interests from a new audience for IARC Learning resources and events. It opened new perspectives for a wider dissemination of evidence-based knowledge on cancer prevention.