History of the INC

Already for some time the medical community of Luxembourg required that a national organisation to coordinate various public and private actors taking part in the administration and delivery and cancer patient care in Luxembourg. It became apparent that more could be done in harmonising the individual efforts of the medical community of hospitals and free professionals, cancer associations, patient representatives, as well as of the national legislative and executive bodies.

The development of the Plan National Cancer gave an impetus  to the establishment of the Institute National du Cancer (INC).

The National Cancer Institute (INC) has been established on the 25th June 2015 as an association without lucrative purpose, with its founding members being:
Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL),
Centre Hospitalier Emile Mayrisch (CHEM),
Hôpitaux Robert Schuman (HRS),
Centre Hospitalier du Nord (CHdN),
Centre François Baclesse (CFB),
Société Luxembourgeoise d’Oncologie (SLO),
Fondation Cancer,
Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner,
Patiente Vertriedung,
Médiateur de la Santé,
National Cancer Platform (PNC).

Financing

The INC is financed by the Ministry of Health of Luxembourg –  one of its founding members. The financing is provided in the context of an annually renewable performance contact (a “Convention”), and is linked to a series of activities (deliverables) to be implemented by the INC.

The performance contract reflects to a large degree the organisational activities associated with the implementation of the National Cancer Plan under the direction of the National Cancer Platform.

Further third-party financing is provided as various contributions in kind by the INC’s founding members and its collaborating partners to support diverse projects undertaken by the INC.

Vision and Missions

The main missions of the INC are:

• Coordinate at national level:
  • the overall organization of oncology
  • the reorganisation/realignment of the cancer care channels /pathways
  • the promotion of the centres of competence
  • the development of treatment guidelines and patient pathways
  • the implementation and the activity of the national, as well as of the hospital (local) multidisciplinary “Tumour Board” meetings (Réunions de Concertation Pluridisciplinaires RCP)
• Promote the analysis of quality indicators for the prevention and treatment of cancer
• Support the introduction of “personalised medicine” (new approaches of the diagnosis and treatment)
• Congregate, inform and animate scientifically the actors involved in the delivery of health care
• Quality marking of the providers of medical services.

In line with the missions presented above, the scope of activity of the INC will specifically include the following actions:

• In the context of the national initiative for the continuous improvement of oncology in Luxembourg, congregate professional and institutional actors involved in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer
• Coordinate the organisation of oncology at the national level in the interest of patients, acting through the national cancer care channels and establishing the links with expert centres abroad
• Monitor epidemiological indicators for cancer
• Promote the analysis of outcomes of oncology care, and make recommendations for if improvement, if needed
• Identify new therapeutic opportunities, and support their implementation in Luxembourg
• Act as a major player in the organisation and implementation of personalised medicine in oncology
• Coordinate scientific discussions of professional practice in oncology in Luxembourg, and act as a main vehicle for informing professionals
• Establish links between the clinical community and researchers to encourage their participation in cancer research activities
• Act as a privileged interlocutor of the public authority in the field of oncology in Luxembourg, in particular of the National Cancer Platform , and support the fight against cancer
• Act as a privileged interlocutor of international scientific organisations in the field of oncology
• Support and inform the population at large, and cancer patients in particular
• Deliver, in the format of a performance contract (“Convention”) with the Ministry of Health, a quality marking, on the basis of external audits carried out by an independent body, to providers involved in oncology who meet the criteria for expected quality competencies and who possess a quality assurance system
• Analyse the organisation of oncology in Luxembourg and, where appropriate, support own evolution (of the INC) into a (full-fledged) National Cancer Centre, overseeing the diagnostic and/or treatment centres.

Internal Policies

This gender equality plan aims to ensure the equality between women and men within all structures of the INC.

Gender equality plan

Objectives

Annual objectives of the INC are defined by its Board of Directors (Conseil d’Administration) taking into account the actions and deliverables agreed in the performance contract between the INC and the Ministry of Health.

Contact information

Post address:
Institut National du Cancer (INC)
1B rue Thomas Edison
L-1445 STRASSEN

The INC can be contacted by phone during the office hours at: +352 26 11 97 37.

We are also reachable by fax at: +352 27 32 42 87.

For generic information requests please send us an email to: info@inc.lu.