Category: ESMO 2025

2025 – Moving Forward with Vision

The Kapa3 Annual Review 2025 reflects a year of determination and vision, as Kapa3 strengthened its impact through initiatives and collaborations focused on holistic cancer care.During the first half of the year alone, we managed more than 400 individual requests, with support for the process of Disability Certification standing out as a key service—confirming that personalized, hands-on support remains at the core of our mission.

A milestone moment in 2025 was Kapa3’s participation, alongside 13 European partners, in the EU4Health programme MELODIC, which focuses on improving mental health support for young adult cancer patients (18–39 years old). Through research mapping the training needs of healthcare professionals, the project highlights the urgent need for better detection and management of psychological distress among young patients—many of whom still lack access to adequate psychosocial care.

MELODIC promotes innovative wellbeing interventions, such as physical activity in green and blue spaces combined with psychosocial support, emphasizing the healing power of nature and community in mental health recovery. As an active partner, Kapa3 works to ensure that these actions reach patients directly, fostering community engagement and equitable access to quality care.

At the same time, our participation in the second cycle of the SmartHEALTH programme, supported by CERTH, strengthened the digital integration of healthcare services and empowered patients through smart technologies, improving efficiency, accessibility, and transparency.

Our collaboration with FairLife within the BREATH programme for lung cancer patients highlighted the importance of holistic and interdisciplinary care. In parallel, our presence at conferences and scientific events—such as COST Action INECSC CA21125 and the 7th conference “Caregivers and Depression”—consistently brought attention to the needs of caregivers and the empowerment of patients.

At both national and international levels, Kapa3 presented its work at the Lazord International Conference, the Pan-Macedonian Scientific Nursing Conference, and the ESMO World Congress in Berlin. We also participated in major events such as the Patients Summit, Morning Health Talks by EIT Health, and the 18th Panhellenic Conference on Nutrition & Dietetics.

A particularly important moment was our action in the Municipality of Megara, where a new Cancer Patient Guidance and Counselling Station was established, offering direct and personalized support to patients and their families.

Prevention and awareness remain fundamental pillars of our work. Breast self-examination initiatives, participation in the Action4Obesity network, presence at the Thessaloniki Disability Festival, and the launch of new nutrition-related sections on our website all contribute to improving the quality of life of patients and caregivers—combining scientific guidance with lived experience.

Awards 2025

In 2025, Kapa3 received significant recognition for the digital platform Cancer Care Connect, winning a Gold Award at the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Awards, as well as the Gold Award for “NGO of the Year – Health and Social Care” at the Hellenic Responsible Business Awards 2025.
In addition, our collaboration with the University of Peloponnese received a Silver Award at the Healthcare Business Awards 2025 for the programme “Community co-design and implementation of holistic educational practices for nutrition and mental health.”

Every initiative, every partnership, and every participation brings us closer to our vision: holistic, human-centred care where the voices of patients and caregivers truly matter.

To explore our full journey from the foundation of Kapa3 through the end of 2025, you can view our comprehensive activity report here.

The Kapa3 Annual Review 2025 reaffirms our commitment to holistic, human-centred care, where the voices of patients and caregivers truly matter.

As we step into the new year, we move forward with enthusiasm, commitment, and optimism—to continue supporting patients and caregivers, investing in innovation and education, and strengthening care and participation across all our actions.

We wish everyone a year filled with health, strength, and inspiration.

The Kapa3 Team

KAPA3 at the ESMO Congress: Inspiration and Confirmation That We Are Moving Towards the Future

From October 17 to 20, we attended the ESMO World Congress in Berlin. The event stood out for the active participation of the Greek medical community, which led presentations on clinical data, Real-World Evidence, and up-to-date education in collaboration with the global oncology community. At the same time, Greek teams received awards in various areas (medical, nursing, institutional), inspiring us all with hope for the ongoing developments in oncology care.

Our main goal as KAPA3 was to focus on research addressing the real needs of the population within the framework of the global community. Collaborating with healthcare professionals from around the world allowed us to gather valuable knowledge and experiences. The intensive sessions and discussions broadened our understanding and prompted reflection on the next steps.

Key challenges identified for the patient advocacy community were:

  1. Mandatory multidisciplinary assessment before starting treatment
    No patient should begin treatment without undergoing a multidisciplinary assessment, including an oncology nurse, social scientist, and psychologist. This should be considered the minimum standard for all cancer patients.
  2. Certification and quality of multidisciplinary teams
    It is our duty to ensure that these teams meet quality standards. Their certification is undoubtedly complex. However, for us at KAPA3, multidisciplinary care is a fundamental criterion for service provision and must be certified. Quality care can significantly improve patient outcomes, as shown by clinical studies and research presented at this year’s congress, with potential improvements in overall survival of up to 10% (Sweden).

We are deeply proud that our work is guided by these standards precisely. In an era of remarkable progress in medicine and new therapies, we continue to strengthen the institution of research and multidisciplinary care, ensuring accessibility and patient-centered approaches aimed at quality of life.

This is the third time we have presented our efforts at an ESMO congress, in collaboration with the International University and the Nursing Department, highlighting our presence at every level. Meanwhile, trainings for other healthcare professionals take place annually within our organization in collaboration with Greek universities.

For Greek patients and their environment, we have not yet reached a point where the quality of care is considered a key objective for the entire oncology community. Our aim is to align with efforts across Europe so that, in the future, multidisciplinary assessments from the first day of diagnosis become standard practice within therapeutic protocols.

At KAPA3, we understand that quality care, inherently multidisciplinary, requires collective effort and collaboration between organizations and professionals to determine the best possible standards.