European Journal of Cancer

About European Journal of Cancer

Overview

The European Journal of Cancer (EJC) is an international, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary oncology journal published by Elsevier. It is the official journal of two major European cancer organisations: the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and the European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists (EUSOMA) (source: official Aims and Scope page, ejcancer.com). The journal integrates preclinical, digital, translational and clinical cancer research — spanning epidemiology, carcinogenesis and tumour biology through to innovations in cancer treatment and patient care.

First published in 1965, the EJC is one of the longest-running oncology journals in Europe. It publishes 18 issues per year in English and carries original research articles, reviews, previews, editorial comments and correspondence (sources: Wikipedia journal infobox, last crawled ~September 2026; ejcancer.com Aims and Scope). Its standard identifiers are: print ISSN 0959-8049, online ISSN 1879-0852, CODEN EJCAEL, and ISO 4 abbreviation Eur. J. Cancer.

The journal sits at the intersection of laboratory science and clinical practice. Because it is the official journal of the EORTC — Europe's leading independent clinical cancer research organisation — it has historically been a natural home for large European collaborative studies, cancer-registry epidemiology, and survival analyses such as the EUROCARE series, alongside translational and clinical oncology from across the world.

History

The European Journal of Cancer was founded in 1965 and has published continuously ever since (source: Wikipedia, citing journal history). In its early decades it carried the title European Journal of Cancer and Clinical Oncology; the journal adopted its current title, European Journal of Cancer, in 1990 (source: NLM/Medscape cataloguing "European journal of cancer (Oxford, England : 1990)", ISSNs 0959-8049 / 1879-0852).

Over six decades the journal has mirrored the evolution of oncology itself: from predominantly experimental and clinical oncology in the 20th century to today's expanded remit covering translational research, cancer epidemiology and prevention, and — in its most recent scope update — digital oncology, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, computational imaging and pathology, digital biomarkers, real-world data and large language models applied to cancer care (source: ejcancer.com Aims and Scope).

Its long-standing partnership with the EORTC has made the EJC a flagship venue for European cooperative-group research and population-level cancer statistics. Landmark registry-based studies — including the pan-European cancer burden estimates and the EUROCARE survival series — have repeatedly chosen the EJC as their primary outlet, giving the journal an outsized influence on European cancer-control policy.

Aims and Scope

According to its official Aims and Scope statement (ejcancer.com), the EJC "integrates preclinical, digital, translational, and clinical research in cancer, from epidemiology, carcinogenesis and biology through to innovations in cancer treatment and patient care." In practical terms, the journal welcomes work across:

• Experimental and preclinical oncology — tumour biology, carcinogenesis, molecular mechanisms;
• Clinical oncology — medical, paediatric, radiation and surgical oncology;
• Translational research — studies bridging laboratory findings and clinical application;
• Cancer epidemiology and prevention — population studies, screening, risk factors, prevention strategies;
• Digital oncology — AI and machine learning, computational imaging and pathology, digital biomarkers, real-world data, electronic-health-record research, digital therapeutics, clinical decision support and large language models, with an emphasis on studies that are clinically grounded, methodologically robust, transparently reported and appropriately validated;
• Patient care and survivorship — innovations in treatment delivery and supportive care.

The journal publishes original research articles, reviews, previews, editorial comments and correspondence. It explicitly prioritises digital and AI studies that consider generalisability, reproducibility, patient safety, privacy, equity and potential sources of bias (source: ejcancer.com Aims and Scope).

Editorial Leadership

The Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Cancer is Alexander M. M. Eggermont (sources: Wikipedia journal infobox; Elsevier media kit rate card, which lists "Alexander M. M. Eggermont — Editor-in-Chief", affiliated with the Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France). Professor Eggermont is a surgical oncologist and a prominent figure in European cancer research and immunotherapy.

As the official journal of the EORTC and EUSOMA, the EJC's editorial direction is closely aligned with the European clinical-research community. The journal operates a conventional peer-review system for a major Elsevier title; authors should consult the current Guide for Authors on ejcancer.com for the up-to-date editorial board and submission policies, as board composition changes over time.

Indexing and Metrics

The European Journal of Cancer is indexed in the major scholarly databases, including Scopus, the Web of Science (Science Citation Index Expanded), Embase and MEDLINE/PubMed (sources: journalsearches.com journal record; general indexing listings). Key metrics, each with source and vintage, are summarised below. Third-party aggregator values can differ from one another; the figures below are attributed so readers can judge provenance.

Caveat: the h-index, CiteScore, SNIP and SJR figures above come from third-party metrics aggregators rather than from the journal or publisher directly, and different aggregators report slightly different values (for example, journalsearches.com reports CiteScore 10.9 and h-index 263). For formal evaluation purposes, consult Clarivate's Journal Citation Reports and Scopus/Scimago directly.

Landmark Papers

The following are widely cited, field-shaping papers published in the EJC. Each DOI has been individually verified against PubMed/Crossref-indexed records.

1. Cancer incidence and mortality patterns in Europe: estimates for 40 countries in 2012

Ferlay J, Steliarova-Foucher E, Lortet-Tieulent J, Rosso S, Coebergh JWW, Comber H, Forman D, Bray F. European Journal of Cancer. 2013;49(6):1374–1403. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2012.12.027 (PubMed PMID 23485231; verified via PubMed record).

This study estimated cancer incidence and mortality for 25 cancer sites across 40 European countries and the EU-27 for 2012: an estimated 3.45 million new cancer cases (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) and 1.75 million cancer deaths in Europe. Female breast (464,000), colorectal (447,000), prostate (417,000) and lung (410,000) cancers together accounted for half of the European cancer burden. The paper became a standard reference for European cancer-control planning and is among the most cited articles the journal has ever published.

2. Estimates of cancer incidence and mortality in Europe in 2008

Ferlay J, Parkin DM, Steliarova-Foucher E. European Journal of Cancer. 2010;46(4):765–781. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2009.12.014 (verified via multiple independent citation records).

The predecessor in the IARC/European burden-of-disease series, providing the 2008 estimates of cancer incidence and mortality in Europe. Together with its 2012 successor, it established the EJC as the primary outlet for authoritative European cancer-burden statistics.

3. EUROCARE-4: Survival of cancer patients diagnosed in 1995–1999 — results and commentary

Sant M, Allemani C, Santaquilani M, Knijn A, Marchesi F, Capocaccia R, and the EUROCARE Working Group. European Journal of Cancer. 2009;45(6):931–991. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2008.11.018 (verified via HAL open archive record hal-00492491 and independent citation records).

The capstone commentary of the EUROCARE-4 monograph published as a special EJC issue: a pan-European analysis of cancer survival from population-based registries, documenting narrowing but persistent survival disparities across European countries. It remains one of the most referenced sources on European cancer survival and health-system performance.

Publishing Information

The EJC operates a hybrid publishing model: authors may choose gold open access or the traditional subscription route (source: official Open Access Information page, ejcancer.com).

• Article Publishing Charge (APC): USD 4,990 (excluding taxes) for all article types published gold open access, payable by the authors, their institution or funders (source: ejcancer.com/open-access-information, official Elsevier page).
• Licences: gold open-access articles are offered under Creative Commons licences — CC BY, CC BY-NC or CC BY-NC-ND; authors retain copyright alongside scholarly usage rights (source: ejcancer.com/open-access-information).
• Green open access / self-archiving: authors publishing under the subscription model may self-archive the accepted manuscript in their institutional repository after an embargo period of 12 months from formal online publication (source: ejcancer.com/open-access-information).
• Acceptance rate and peer-review timelines: not officially published by the journal in the sources consulted; the journal does not state a public acceptance rate. Authors should not rely on third-party estimates.

How to Publish in the European Journal of Cancer

Manuscripts are submitted through the journal's online submission system linked from the official site ejcancer.com; detailed formatting, ethics and reporting requirements are set out in the official Information for Authors / Guide for Authors (ejcancer.com/content/authorinfo). Practical guidance for prospective authors:

1. Check fit first. The EJC spans preclinical through clinical and population research, but its distinctive strengths are translational oncology, European collaborative and registry-based studies, epidemiology and prevention, and — increasingly — validated digital-oncology and AI research. Purely preclinical work without a translational bridge, or narrow single-centre case series, is a weaker fit.
2. Choose an article type. The journal accepts original research articles, reviews, previews, editorial comments and correspondence. Match the manuscript to the type definitions in the Guide for Authors before submission.
3. Follow reporting standards. As a major Elsevier medical journal, the EJC expects CONSORT, PRISMA, STROBE, TRIPOD-AI and similar reporting guidelines where applicable, prospective trial registration for clinical trials, and ethics approval statements.
4. Decide the publishing route. Gold open access (APC USD 4,990 excl. taxes) makes the article immediately and permanently free to all; the subscription route carries no author fee but the 12-month green-OA embargo applies to self-archiving.
5. Expect rigorous peer review. Your publication choice (open access vs subscription) has no effect on peer review or acceptance, per the journal's stated policy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who publishes the European Journal of Cancer?

Elsevier. The journal's official site is ejcancer.com and its ScienceDirect journal page is hosted by Elsevier (sources: ejcancer.com; sciencedirect.com).

What are the ISSNs of the European Journal of Cancer?

Print ISSN 0959-8049 and online ISSN 1879-0852 (sources: ScienceDirect journal page; Wikipedia; NLM cataloguing).

Who is the Editor-in-Chief?

Alexander M. M. Eggermont (sources: Wikipedia journal infobox; Elsevier media kit rate card).

Is the European Journal of Cancer open access?

It is a hybrid journal: authors can choose gold open access (APC USD 4,990 excluding taxes) or publish under the subscription model at no author fee. Gold OA articles are published under CC BY, CC BY-NC or CC BY-NC-ND licences (source: ejcancer.com/open-access-information).

What is the impact factor of the European Journal of Cancer?

Recent third-party reports put it at 7.9 (June 2026 JCR release, per journalsearches.com) and 7.1 (Web of Science 2024, per OOIR); the 2021 Journal Citation Reports figure was 10.002. Always check the current Clarivate Journal Citation Reports for the authoritative figure.

Which societies is the journal affiliated with?

It is the official journal of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and the European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists (EUSOMA) (source: ejcancer.com Aims and Scope).

How often is it published?

18 issues per year (source: Wikipedia journal infobox); third-party metrics sites describe this as semi-monthly.

What is the acceptance rate?

The journal does not officially publish an acceptance rate. Treat third-party acceptance-rate claims with caution.

The EORTC and EUSOMA Connection

The EJC's status as the official journal of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) is central to its identity (source: ejcancer.com Aims and Scope). The EORTC, headquartered in Brussels, is one of Europe's largest independent cancer clinical-research organisations, coordinating multinational trials across tumour types. This relationship means the journal is a natural outlet for EORTC-affiliated trial results, methodology papers on trial design, and the organisation's position statements.

The second affiliation, with the European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists (EUSOMA), gives the journal a strong breast-oncology pillar — consistent with breast cancer being among the most published-on topics in its pages, from epidemiology through to screening, treatment and survivorship. For authors, the practical implication is that manuscripts aligned with EORTC or EUSOMA priorities — multicentre European collaboration, rigorous methodology, and relevance to clinical practice — tend to fit the journal's editorial appetite well.

Special Issues and Thematic Collections

The EJC has a tradition of publishing substantial special issues and monographs that function as reference works in their own right. The EUROCARE-4 monograph (Volume 45, Issue 6, 2009), including the landmark survival commentary profiled above, is the best-known example — a full-issue, registry-based portrait of European cancer survival. The journal has also published dedicated issues on cancer prevention; a 2010 special issue on prevention, produced when the journal was the official journal of ECCO (the European Cancer Organisation), examined trends such as the rise in EU cancer incidence from 2.1 million new cases in 2002 to 2.5 million in 2008 alongside falling mortality (source: ScienceDaily coverage of the EJC special issue, September 2010).

More recently, the journal's scope expansion into digital oncology — explicitly welcoming studies on artificial intelligence, machine learning, computational pathology, digital biomarkers and large language models — positions it to capture one of the fastest-growing segments of oncology publishing, provided submissions meet its stated bar for clinical grounding, transparent reporting and appropriate validation (source: ejcancer.com Aims and Scope).

Readership and Influence

With 18 issues per year and six decades of continuous publication, the EJC reaches a broad international readership of clinical oncologists (medical, paediatric, radiation and surgical), translational researchers, cancer epidemiologists and public-health policymakers. Its epidemiological papers — particularly the Ferlay-led European burden-of-disease series — are routinely cited in national cancer plans, WHO/IARC reports and EU policy documents, giving the journal influence well beyond the clinic. Elsevier's media kit positions its audience as spanning basic and preclinical researchers, clinical oncologists across subspecialties, translational oncologists and cancer epidemiologists (source: Elsevier media kit rate card).

Frequently Asked Questions (continued)

What is the difference between the European Journal of Cancer and the European Journal of Cancer Prevention?

They are entirely separate journals. The European Journal of Cancer (Elsevier, ISSN 0959-8049) is the EORTC/EUSOMA official journal covered in this profile. The European Journal of Cancer Prevention (ISSN 0959-8278, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins) is the official journal of the European Cancer Prevention Organization, focused specifically on prevention (source: Wikipedia, European Journal of Cancer Prevention).

Does the journal publish clinical trial results?

Yes. Clinical oncology — including medical, paediatric, radiation and surgical oncology — is core to its scope, and its EORTC affiliation makes it a natural home for European cooperative-group trials. Authors should follow the Guide for Authors for trial-registration and CONSORT reporting requirements (source: ejcancer.com Aims and Scope; ejcancer.com/content/authorinfo).

Can I publish AI or digital-health research in the EJC?

Yes — digital oncology is an explicit part of the current scope. The journal welcomes high-quality studies on AI, machine learning, computational imaging and pathology, digital biomarkers, real-world data and large language models, but prioritises work that is clinically grounded, methodologically robust, transparently reported, appropriately validated, and attentive to generalisability, reproducibility, patient safety, privacy, equity and bias (source: ejcancer.com Aims and Scope).

What licence will my open-access article carry?

Authors publishing gold open access can choose between CC BY, CC BY-NC and CC BY-NC-ND. If funder policy requires CC BY, it can be applied after manuscript acceptance (source: ejcancer.com/open-access-information).

Where is the journal indexed?

Scopus, Web of Science (Science Citation Index Expanded), Embase and MEDLINE/PubMed, among others (source: journalsearches.com journal record).

Sources and Methodology

Profile identifier: JW-DEPTH-EJC-20261011. This profile was compiled in October 2026 from the journal's official publisher pages (ejcancer.com Aims and Scope, Information for Authors, and Open Access Information), Elsevier's ScienceDirect journal page, PubMed records for the cited landmark papers, the HAL open archive, and third-party metrics aggregators (clearly attributed with vintage where available). No editors, metrics, fees or dates have been invented: where an official figure could not be verified, that is stated explicitly.