EUREGHA Working Group on Cancer – Spring meeting 2025

May 6, 2025

EUREGHA Working Group on Cancer Spring Meeting: Aligning Regional Action with EU Cancer Priorities

On 6 May 2025, EUREGHA hosted its Working Group on Cancer – Spring Meeting, bringing together regional health actors, institutional partners, and EU project representatives to explore collaborative opportunities in advancing cancer policy, digital innovation, and inequalities monitoring. Held online, the meeting focused on aligning regional activities with the EU Cancer Mission, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, and Horizon Europe. The meeting included three main topics of discussion:

Spotlight on Inequalities: The European Cancer Inequalities Registry

Caroline Berchet, Health Economist at the OECD, presented an update on the European Cancer Inequalities Registry—a flagship initiative of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. She shared early results from the 2025 Cancer Country Profiles and outlined the upcoming 2026 report, which will assess timely access to diagnosis and treatment, care safety and effectiveness, integration of care with patients’ social and economic reintegration, and regional disparities in outcomes and workforce. EUREGHA members were invited to contribute good practices and data to enrich the upcoming report by the end of June 2025.

Digital Innovation in Practice: Sweden’s Cancer Care Dashboard

Erik Hilborn from the Linköping Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Region Östergötland) introduced a standardised care dashboard used in Sweden to track cancer pathways in real-time. The tool visualises every step in the patient journey—from first referral to treatment—enabling clinicians and care teams to identify bottlenecks and improve timeliness. The dashboard is part of a national effort to harmonise oncology care and shift from individual to team-based performance monitoring. Attendees praised the tool’s data-driven yet accessible design.

Updates from ONCODIR and ECHoS: Empowering Prevention and Regional Hubs

EUREGHA provided updates on its involvement in two flagship EU projects.

ONCODIR focuses on primary prevention of colorectal cancer and is developing a data-based Indicator Measurement Matrix. Members are encouraged to contribute insights on local policies, funding, and prevention strategies by 30 May 2025.

ECHoS aims to establish a European network of National Cancer Mission Hubs. A joint ERRIN-EUREGHA workshop on 28 May will explore regional engagement strategies and implementation governance. A call for regional speakers is open until 16 May.

Horizon Europe 2025: Mapping Regional Interest

Participants explored early-stage consortia building for Horizon Europe’s 2025 calls. Topics of interest included nutrition-focused trials for older cancer patients, innovative paediatric cancer trials, AI-based diagnostics and ATMP manufacturing, environmental determinants of cancer, and digitalisation and prevention through mobility. IRST (Emilia-Romagna) and other EUREGHA members shared project concepts and encouraged partnership interest.

The meeting concluded with practical examples from members. Flanders highlighted the importance of data integration across the screening pathway and community engagement through collaboration with sectors such as sports associations. Catalonia shared updates on Spain’s role in the EUCCC certification programme, aiming to harmonise quality in cancer centres across the EU.

This meeting reaffirmed EUREGHA’s role as a connector between regional knowledge and EU policy agendas. Through its Cancer Working Group, EUREGHA supports members to join EU projects and consortia, influence policy with local insights, and share and scale successful regional initiatives.