Access to medicines for cancer patients is crucial for providing high quality care. However, cancer medicines shortages are a problem affecting countries across Europe. These shortages occur when the supply of medicines, identified as essential by the health system, is insufficient to meet public health and patient needs.1 Why do these shortages exist, and how can we prevent them? The Economist Intelligence Unit were commissioned by the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) to investigate medicines shortages in Europe, what can be done to prevent medicines shortages, explore their impact on the provision of care and how to mitigate the impact on patients, clinicians and pharmacists.