ESA’s Prof. Annane joins discussion on AMR in oncology at the European Parliament
On March 4, 2026, the European Parliament served as the stage for a critical policy dialogue titled "Safeguarding Cancer Care in Europe: AMR and Sepsis," a high-level event organised by Cancer Patients Europe (CPE) to address the intersection of cancer and infections. Hosted by a cross-party coalition of MEPs including Kristian Vigenin, Ondřej Dostál, and Nikos Papandreou, the session centered on the launch of the the White Paper “Combating AMR in Oncology: A Strategic Imperative for EU Health Policy” to which the European Sepsis Alliance contributed.
Representing the ESA, Steering Committee member Prof. Djillali Annane delivered an insightful intervention on the systemic failures that currently leave immunocompromised patients vulnerable. He pointed out that while sepsis accounts for a significant portion of deaths in cancer patients—particularly those with hematological malignancies—it is frequently misrecorded as a general infection or organ failure. This lack of precise coding masks the true scale of the problem, leading to his urgent warning that we cannot properly prevent what we do not accurately count.
The discussions highlighted that AMR is fundamentally changing the clinical landscape for oncology. For patients whose immune systems are weakened by chemotherapy or stem cell transplants, the failure of first-line antibiotics means infections can progress into life-threatening sepsis within hours. Prof. Annane emphasized that this is no longer just a microbiological challenge but a structural one, characterized by fragmented care pathways and a "one-size-fits-all" treatment approach that fails to account for the unique immune profiles of cancer patients.
The ESA continues to advocate for a precision-based approach to sepsis management, calling for EU-wide investment in rapid diagnostics that can identify pathogens in minutes rather than days. By integrating cancer and sepsis pathways and harmonising reporting across Member States, European health policy can move toward a system that recognises sepsis not merely as a complication, but as a critical determinant of cancer survival.
The event concluded with a unified call for these priorities to be firmly embedded in the implementation of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and upcoming legislative initiatives like the Critical Medicines Act.
The discussion will continue also in the ESA Sepsis and Cancer Working Group, launched on 4 February. The WG aims at identifying gaps and opportunities in the research agenda for sepsis in oncology, and advocate for the integration of sepsis protocols in national cancer plans.