The increasing amount and availability of collected data (cancer imaging) and the development of novel technological tools based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), provide unprecedented opportunities for better cancer detection and classification, image optimization, radiation reduction, and clinical workflow enhancement. The INCISIVE project aims to address three major open challenges in order to explore the full potential of AI solutions in cancer imaging: (1) AI challenges unique to medical imaging, (2) Image labelling and annotation and (3) Data availability and sharing. In order to do that INCISIVE plans to develop and validate: (1) an AI-based toolbox that enhances the accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, interpretability and cost-effectiveness of existing cancer imaging methods, (2) an automated-ML based annotation mechanism to rapidly produce training data for machine learning research and (3) a pan-European repository federated repository of medical images, that will enable the secure donation and sharing of data in compliance with ethical, legal and privacy demands, increasing accessibility to datasets and enabling experimentation of AI-based solutions. The INCISIVE models and analytics will utilize various cancer imaging scans, biological data and EHRs, and will be trained with 1 PB of available data provided by 8 partners within the project. INCISIVE solution will be investigated in four validation studies for Breast, Prostate, Colorectal and Lung Cancer, taking place in 8 pilot sites, from 5 countries (Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Serbia and Spain), with participation of at least 2,600 patients and a total duration of 1.5 year. INCISIVE moves beyond the state of the art, by improving sensitivity and specificity of lower cost scanning methods, accurately predicting the tumor spread, evolution and relapse, enhancing interpretability of results and “democratizing” imaging data.

The 'Fostering Oncology Research by Charities in Europe' consortium (FORCE) is a network of 15 European charities across 12 European countries joining forces to support pragmatic clinical trials tackling high and unmet medical needs in oncology in Europe. The main objective of the FORCE CSA is to provide the Mission Board with an ambitious, yet feasible, programme by & for cancer charities, to optimize their contribution to the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. The Pragmatic Clinical Trial Programme will be elaborated in a bottom-up coordinated approach, involving all relevant stakeholders (researchers and professionals from different disciplines, patients, citizens, policy makers and regulatory authorities) across Member States and Associated Countries. During the CSA, the FORCE consortium will propose foundational pillars for EU strategic support to a European cancer charities network dedicated to organising, implementing and monitoring sustainable and ambitious support for cancer pragmatic clinical trials. The overall objectives of this initiative are to: 1. Define and deliver a Pragmatic Clinical Trial Programme by cancer charities; 2. Implement two transnational calls to test and improve our proposed programme (feasibility step); 3. Deliver to the EC a blueprint on pragmatic oncology clinical trials by charities to facilitate decision-making and provide guidelines for the future work programme. Through the successful achievement of these objectives, the FORCE network will both strengthen cooperation among European cancer charities and mobilise the European research community through crucial scientific questions to improve health outcomes for cancer patients through patient-focused research. This action is part of the Cancer Mission cluster of projects on "Diagnostics and treatment".

Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) has been classified as a "Group 1” carcinogen (known human carcinogen) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and has been shown to have adverse health effects on adults and children, including heart disease and respiratory disorders. Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), the most common “electronic nicotine delivery system”, have irrupted in the past 5 years with sales volumes increasing considerably across the European Union. The TackSHS Project will try to elucidate the comprehensive impact that SHS and e-cigarettes emissions have on the respiratory health of the European population and how health impacts vary according to socio-economic parameters with particular emphasis on specific vulnerable groups (patients suffering from pre-existing chronic lung diseases, heavy smokers, and other disadvantaged groups). By means of an integrated series of work packages, we will investigate the determinants of SHS exposure, assessed at the individual level and in the environment (survey and air quality assessment in 12 countries), the overall burden of disease caused (lung diseases and cardiovascular diseases), including the specific respiratory health changes in patients and healthy people, the economic impact of both mortality and morbidity caused by these exposures, the methods to better characterize these exposures and novel interventions to reduce them. This comprehensive, integrated approach will enable significant step-change beyond the current state-of-the-art in understanding SHS and e- cigarette emission exposure. The participating partners have been at the forefront of cutting edge research in this discipline, with prior collaboration between them in specific projects. The TackSHS Project will put together for the first time all these first-line research teams, and the conjunction of the work packages will result in a step forward to tackle exposure to SHS and e-cigarettes emissions.