Joint Action Personalised Cancer Medicine

Personalised cancer medicine (PCM) using personal medical history, physiological status, genomic profiling combined with technologies like imaging are key in cancer management, from prevention to end-of-life care, and in some cases already a standard practice. The key aim of this Joint Action (JA) is to extend access to and knowledge of PCM across Europe with the vision to develop healthcare interventions along the individual’s lifecourse taking a multi-perspective point of view from the healthy person, cancer patient and survivor. The JA partners recognize that prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up should be approached in a concerted way for optimal patient benefit.
The JA will thus focus on three areas: 1) personalised prevention and early detection, 2) personalised ‘medicine’, and 3) personalised follow-up and tertiary prevention. Pilot projects will build on previous initiatives like CAN.HEAL and PCM4EU, addressing seven key themes: 1) pathway, access and implementation of risk-informed cancer prevention, 2) polygenic risk score application, 3) cancer genetic predisposition across the patient journey, 4) molecular tumour boards, 5) innovative shared risk treatment models with evidence generation, 6) liquid biopsy testing, 7) digital innovation for remote monitoring. Transversal activities, such as EQA (External Quality Assessments) for liquid biopsy, education and training, ELSI (Ethical, Legal and Social Implications), HTA (Health Technology Assessment), data and access, will support these efforts. The outcomes will be evaluated using the 'Intervention Readiness Assessment tool' from CAN.HEAL.
The JA will conclude with the ‘PCM in Europe’ roadmap and sustainability plan, aligning with other initiatives in the European Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP) that is entering the last phase.