Contributing to the EU Cancer Mission's objectives
Publication date: 4th of February, 2025

// Key Takeaways //
Four years after its launch, the EU Cancer Mission has been responsible for kickstarting many initiatives, making Europe a world-leader in cancer-related legislation and keeping cancer at the centre of the political discourse.
At PredictBy, we are committed to supporting the EU Mission through our involvement in numerous initiatives, such as the SANGUINE and the MELIORA projects; as well as by fostering collaborative efforts and leveraging collective knowledge to maximise impact and achieve shared objectives.
Although these initiatives are all steps in the right direction, overarching scientific and technical coordination is needed to foster synergies and achieve the Mission’s objectives by 2030.
Today, the 4th of February 2025 and World Cancer Day, marks four years since the publication of the EU Cancer Mission, an ambitious plan to improve the lives of more than 3 million people by 2030. Together with Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, the Mission is boosting understanding of cancer as well as improving the entire cancer care journey: from prevention and early detection to diagnosis, treatment and improved quality of life for patients, caregivers, and their families.
The European Cancer Information System estimates that 2,78 million new cancer cases only in 2022 across the 27 European Union Member States (plus Iceland and Norway). By 2035, these are expected to rise by 24%, making cancer the leading cause of death in Europe.
Highlights from the new 2025 data on Country Cancer Profiles for EU countries, Norway and Iceland show that cancer mortality has decreased by 12% from 2011 to 2021 and some cancer-related risk factors have improved (reduction in smoking rates and alcohol consumption). At the same time, geographical, gender, and socioeconomic inequalities remain high across EU countries.
Aside from the health burden, cancer also has a significant economic and societal impact. Cancer-related expenditures are set to increase, with an estimated cost of €93 billion over the next 21 years (European Public Health Alliance, 2024). The rise in spending is however also due to the ageing of the population, investments in new and expensive treatments and, positively, increasing survival rates.
These frightening data have driven the European Union’s strong political commitment to take decisive actions against cancer, and to allocate over €4 billion to an extensive portfolio focused on cancer research and innovation. Making these priorities is key to prevention, the impact of which should not be underestimated: between 30% and 50% of cancer cases can in fact be prevented by implementing what is already known (WHO, 2022).
THE ROLE OF PREDICTBY IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU CANCER MISSION
Since its launch, the EU Cancer Mission has been responsible for kickstarting numerous initiatives which are building a solid base for Member States and related organisations to collaborate on improving cancer care.
One of the main objectives of the European Commission is to improve early detection of cancer by standardising the quality of care provided by health services throughout the whole patient journey.
This is why the Joint Research Centre (JRC) is leading the development of evidence-based guidelines for primary prevention, screening and diagnosis of breast, colorectal and cervical cancer; and has launched the European Quality Assurance Scheme, of which the first official version of the manual has just been published. Since last year, PredictBy, together with Intellera (part of Accenture group Italy) and empirica; has been providing scientific support to the JRC, both in the development of recommendations as well as in the associated quality assurance schemes for healthcare services.
In addition, we aim to contribute to the success of the EU Cancer Mission through engagement in multiple Horizon Europe (HE) projects and EU tenders:
Through the SANGUINE project, responsible for developing a novel minimally-invasive blood test that detects and categorises haematological malignancies; we are contributing to optimising early detection methods using a user-centric approach. We are developing communication packages for both patients and healthcare professionals via co-creation with stakeholders and citizen engagement.
We are also developing sustainable interventions to promote healthy behaviours among adolescents for primary cancer prevention through the use of digital tools thanks to our involvement in the SUNRISE project. This spans across feasibility assessment, cost-effectiveness analysis, data management, ethics considerations, exploitation and dissemination strategies; aiming to co-create, implement and evaluate an innovative digitally-enhanced life-skills programme tailored to diverse socio-economic, cultural, and environmental backgrounds.
In the MELIORA project, the emphasis is also on promoting sustainable behavioural changes, particularly among women at risk of breast cancer, patients, and survivors using AI and digital tools. Our main contributions to the project involve evaluating intervention and process effectiveness, identifying barriers and facilitators to the implementation, and developing strategies for disadvantaged groups. Our work also informs health economic evaluations and scalability assessments, engaging stakeholders through workshops to facilitate broader adoption across Europe.
Also leveraging AI, the KATY project focuses on developing a precise personalised medicine system empowered by explainable AI for clinicians, particularly for clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Our role centres on conducting cost-effectiveness analyses and evaluating policy and socio-economic impacts to support treatment decision-making with a patient-centric approach.
Finally, together with Intellera, CECOFORMA, and empirica, we actively support the implementation of the EU Cancer Mission by organising meetings and moderating scientific webinars.
FOSTERING SYNERGIES
PredictBy is ambitious in contributing to the EU Cancer Mission through various pathways, and fortunately, we are not alone in this pursuit. Over the past ten years, more than 3,700 cancer-related projects have been funded by the EU (JRC, 2024). While this is undoubtedly a positive development, care must be taken to avoid duplication of efforts and to ensure that researchers and stakeholders learn from one another, leveraging collective knowledge for a greater impact.
In this vein, the European Commission recognises the value of synergising efforts across Horizon Europe projects and has established HE project Clusters to consolidate initiatives with similar goals. PredictBy is leading and participating in several tasks within multiple clusters, focusing on raising public awareness, addressing inequalities in access to care, fostering citizen engagement, and advancing research and innovation.
Another example of these efforts is the comprehensive dataset of cancer-related projects designed by the JRC to benefit the cancer research community by fostering scientific and technical coordination of EU cancer activities and informing evidence-based decision-making in support of EU cancer policy goals.
Additionally, HaDEA is organising a showcase event “Fostering Synergies to Beat Cancer: The Impact of EU-Funded Projects”, linked to World Cancer Day today on the 4th of February. This aims to demonstrate the significant contributions of various grants and tenders to Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the Cancer Mission. By bringing together representatives of cancer projects, NGOs, healthcare organisations, and policymakers; the event seeks to foster collaboration and promote the development and establishment of strategic synergies.
At PredictBy, we share the commitment to fostering synergies and using our network to collaborate effectively and efficiently. Our focus remains on contributing meaningfully to the achievement of the Mission's objectives. Through these projects and initiatives, we are not only contributing to advancing cancer care through innovative technologies like AI but also fostering collaborative efforts that benefit European citizens at large.
Although it is too early to establish the impact that these initiatives are having on the every-day experience of EU citizens, it is clear that these projects are just a step in the right direction and the start of a long journey in the fight against cancer.
Related published projects:
SANGUINE: Early detection and screening of haematological malignancies
MELIORA: Multimodal Engagement and sustainable Lifestyle Interventions Optimizing breast cancer Risk reduction supported by Artificial intelligence
SUNRISE: SUstaiNable inteRventions and healthy behavIours for adolescent primary prevention of cancer with digital tools
BEATING CANCER PLAN: Implementation of Europe's Beating Cancer Plan
KATY: Enabling clinicians and clinical researchers to make better therapy decisions for people with cancer
Written by: Alessia Cottone, Justine Fleur van der Feen
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