On 14-15 April 2026, Antonella Cardone, CPE CEO, participated in the Annual Leadership Meeting by Common Sense Oncology in Montreal, Canada.
The meeting gathered global leaders from across oncology, including clinicians, researchers, and patient advocates, to discuss priorities for improving cancer care systems and to promote more patient-centred decision-making. Through plenary sessions, panel discussions, and working groups, participants exchanged perspectives and co-developed solutions to address current and future challenges in oncology.
Our CEO participated in the panel “Meaningful Engagement of People with Lived Experience: From Principle to Measurable Influence in Oncology”. The panel was opened by Carolyn Taylor, Global Focus on Cancer, USA, and moderated by Henry Scowcroft, Communications Consultant, United Kingdom, alongside with Rachel Koven, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Canada, and Denis Lacombe, EORTC, Belgium.
The session explored how engagement can move beyond consultation toward structured, accountable, and measurable influence in cancer research, care, and policy. Speakers highlighted the importance of distinguishing symbolic involvement from meaningful engagement, embedding lived experience early in decision-making processes, and assessing impact across dimensions such as inclusiveness, co-creation, and real influence on outcomes.
Our CEO focused in particular on how policy work must bridge the gap between industry and patient involvement, ensuring that lived experience is recognised as a crucial form of evidence. She emphasised that patient advocates must play a structured, early-stage role in cancer strategies and legislative processes to ensure these policies are directly shaped by the realities of those they serve. All this is based on evidence generated by CPE numerous activities, including our White Papers with calls to action on Genomic Testing and Breast Cancer (myC and ESR1 projects) and on the Dose Optimisation and Pragmatic Clinical Trials.
CPE keeps advocating for patients’ engagement models that are transparent and capable of demonstrating real influence on research, policy, and care outcomes.
Learn more about the Common Sense Oncology here.
