Biologics have been used increasingly in the treatment and supportive care of cancer; however, their high cost places a significant burden on healthcare systems. The expiration of patents for biologics has led to the development of biosimilars, with the aim of reducing cost and increasing accessibility to novel treatments, which are affordable for a greater number of patients. Biosimilars are highly similar but not identical to the reference products; therefore, strict regulatory requirements have been formed for their approval. This ensures that there are no clinically meaningful differences compared with respective biologics, with regard to purity, safety and efficacy. In 2003, a regulatory framework for the approval of biosimilars was established in Europe, whereas the USA did not implement a framework until 2009, when the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act was formed. A number of biosimilars have currently been approved in oncology and the number is expected to rise in the near future. More than 10 years of evidence has revealed that biosimilars are safe and effective; however healthcare professionals need to be further educated to eliminate potential misconceptions and integrate biosimilars into routine clinical practice. The present review aims to provide an overview of the biosimilars used in Europe and the USA, present their main benefits and challenges, and discuss their current and future roles in medical oncology.

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Objective: The aim of the present study was to estimate the cost of treating patients with lung cancer at their end-of-life (EOL) phase of care in Greece. Materials & methods: A hospital-based retrospective study was conducted in the Oncology Unit of ‘Sotiria’ Hospital, in Athens, Greece. All lung cancer patients who died between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2018 with at least 6 months follow-up were enrolled in the study. Healthcare resource utilization data, including inpatient and outpatient ones, during the last 6 months before death was extracted from a registry kept in the unit. This data were combined with the corresponding local unit costs to calculate the 6, 3 and 1-month EOL cost in €2019 values. Results: A total of 122 patients met the inclusion criteria. The mean (standard deviation) age at diagnosis was 67.8 (8.9) years with 78.7% of patients being male and 55.0% diagnosed at stage IV. About 52.5% of patients had been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, 28.7% with squamous non-small-cell lung cancer types and 18.9% with small-cell-lung cancer. The median overall survival of these patients was 10.8 months. During the EOL periods, the mean cost/patient in the last 6, 3 and 1 month were €7665, €3351 and €1009, respectively. Pharmaceutical cost was the key driver of the total cost (75% of the total 6-month) followed by radiation therapy (16.2%). The median EOL 6-month cost was marginally statistically significantly higher among patients with adenocarcinoma (€9031) compared with squamous (€6606) and to small-cell-lung cancer (€5474). Conclusion: The findings of the present study indicate that lung cancer treatment incurs high costs in Greece, mainly attributed to pharmaceutical expenses, even at the EOL phase.

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is an open access, peer-reviewed online journal that encompasses all aspects of tobacco use, prevention and cessation that can promote a tobacco free society. The aim of the journal is to foster, promote and disseminate research involving tobacco use, prevention, policy implementation at a regional, national or international level, disease development-progression related to tobacco use, tobacco use impact from the cellular to the international level and finally the treatment of tobacco attributable disease through smoking cessation. Tobacco Prevention & Cessation is anopen access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution using a CC-BY-NC license. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, as long as the manuscript is properly referenced. Disclaimer: This journal has been partially funded by the 3rd Health Programme of the European Union. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the European Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of the information contained herein. The views in this journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies of the European Commission. This abstract book has been produced electronically and all articles are also available on-line as a special supplement at www.tobaccopreventioncessation. Via several public debates, calls for accountability and transparency of politicians and media, exposing consultants of parties and other, the group managed to push one of the most comprehensive tobaccocontrol bills in the world through the Parliament -including plain packaging, obligatory license to sell, complete TAPS ban, mystery shopping by minors etc., while affecting other acts and the national budget assuring more support for quality prevention. Health Promotion Foundation, Nadarzyn, Poland In the early 1990s the premature mortality of young and middleaged adults in many countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) reached some of the highest levels in the world. It was not only twice higher than in the countries of Western Europe, but also above the rates of many developing countries, including China and India. The main cause underlying this health catastrophe in CEE were tobaccocaused diseases. In November 1990, almost precisely a year after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, a summit of tobacco control leaders took place in the town of Kazimierz in Poland. The aim of the meeting was to devise a strategy and plan of action that would allow to counteract the tobacco epidemic ravaging the post-communist states. Full Editorial Board Tobacco Prevention & Cessation Supported by 11The Kazimierz conference gathered leading tobacco control experts from across Europe and North America. Almost thirty years on from the Kazimierz Declaration, most of its health goals have been fully accomplished...