Work Package 9 (WP9)

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC) participates in the EUCanScreen Joint Action through Work Package 9 (WP9) – Risk-based approaches, which focuses on developing knowledge and evidence to support the potential integration of personalised, risk-based approaches into organised cancer screening programmes.

By taking individual risk profiles into account, these approaches may help tailor screening strategies to different levels of risk. WP9 aims to provide European countries with evidence and guidance to assess their effectiveness, implementation requirements and implications for equity, supporting informed decisions on their possible adoption.

UCSC’s involvement reflects its broader research activities in personalised medicine and cancer prevention, as well as its participation in European projects addressing complementary aspects of these fields.

Connecting EUCanScreen with PROPHET and ECHoS

The EUCanScreen Consortium Meeting & Collaborative Sessions, held in Turin from 12 to 14 May 2025, provided an opportunity to explore the relationship between risk-based cancer screening and other areas of personalised prevention.

During the meeting, UCSC presented two European projects:

• PROPHET – A PeRsOnalised Prevention roadmap for the future HEalThcare, focused on advancing personalised prevention in European healthcare systems.
• ECHoS – Establishing of Cancer Mission Hubs: Networks and Synergies, dedicated to developing networks and coordination within the European cancer ecosystem.

The discussions linked EUCanScreen’s work on organised screening and risk stratification with research on personalised prevention and efforts to improve coordination across Europe’s cancer-related programmes.

From Turin to Warsaw: prevention and early detection

On 22 May 2025, the dialogue continued in Warsaw during the Cancer Mission Fair, organised by ECHoS.

UCSC invited EUCanScreen to participate in the session Prevention & Early Detection, which brought together European projects working on cancer prevention and early diagnosis.

The discussion addressed a practical challenge: how to translate innovations developed through European research projects into measures that can be implemented at national level.

EUCanScreen contributed its perspective on organised cancer screening and risk stratification, adding the experience of screening programmes to a wider discussion on personalised prevention.

Rome: a European roadmap for personalised prevention

A further exchange took place in Rome on 26–27 March 2026, when UCSC, as coordinator of PROPHET, organised an event dedicated to presenting the project’s Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) and European Roadmap on Personalised Prevention.

The meeting brought together European projects, researchers and institutional stakeholders to discuss how the priorities identified in the Roadmap could be translated into coordinated actions.

Carlo Senore was invited to present EUCanScreen alongside project coordinator Marcis Leja and co-moderated the parallel session Evidence and Framework.

EUCanScreen’s participation brought the perspectives of organised cancer screening and risk stratification into discussions on the broader development of personalised prevention in Europe.

Beyond individual projects: JANE-2 and the EU Health Policy Platform

The work of UCSC in EUCanScreen, PROPHET and ECHoS is part of a wider commitment to European research and cooperation in personalised cancer prevention.

Within JANE-2 – Joint Action on Networks of Expertise on Cancer, the UCSC team participates through Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS (FPG), which coordinates the Network of Expertise on Personalised Primary and Secondary Prevention.

The network promotes the exchange of expertise and experience between research, healthcare practice and policy, addressing both primary prevention and personalised approaches to cancer screening.

This work is also linked to a subgroup within the European Commission’s EU Health Policy Platform, involving several European projects and Joint Actions, including:

• EUCanScreen
• EUnetCCC – European Network of Comprehensive Cancer Centres
• JA PCM – Joint Action on Personalised Cancer Medicine
• ECHoS

These activities provide opportunities to share experience across different areas of cancer prevention and support dialogue between organisations working on related challenges.

Towards more effective and equitable cancer screening

The experience of UCSC illustrates the value of establishing links between European projects with complementary expertise and objectives.

Exchanges between EUCanScreen, PROPHET, ECHoS, JANE-2 and other European networks can help reduce fragmentation, encourage the circulation of scientific knowledge and facilitate the transfer of innovations between healthcare systems.

For risk-based cancer screening, this cooperation is particularly relevant. Scientific evidence alone is not sufficient: implementation also requires consideration of healthcare organisation, accessibility, sustainability and equity.

Connecting knowledge, strengthening prevention!

This project is co-funded by the European Union.

Further information

• EUCanScreen Consortium Meeting & Collaborative Sessions
• ECHoS – Cancer Mission Fair programme
• PROPHET – Events and updates
• JANE-2 – Network of Expertise on Personalised Prevention
• European Commission – EU Health Policy Platform