The Joint Action “Enhancing digital capabilities of cancer centres in Europe to improve prevention and care” (eCAN Plus) is a flagship EU project in digital oncology and cross-border health data exchange.

Its goal is to make the benefits of digital health accessible to all citizens, patients and healthcare professionals.

The initiative involves 81 organisations from 23 European countries. Together, they seek to address the increasing incidence of cancer, expected to rise by 20% by 2040.

As part of this effort and building on the eCAN Joint Action’s experience (2022–2024), this project involves testing and piloting the safe and secure integration of digital tools and health data in order to improve the use and re-use of health data.

The growing adoption of telemedicine tools and the European Health Data Space’s legal framework provide the foundation for implementing these mechanisms.

Through comprehensive mapping of current scenarios, training programmes, use cases and pilots, eCAN Plus also intends to strengthen collaboration among cancer centres and enhance the digital skills of healthcare professionals.

Moreover, by gathering and sharing knowledge from participating countries, eCAN Plus expects to develop recommendations and highlight best practices along the cancer care pathway, thereby improving patients’ access to effective healthcare.

The Joint Action eCAN Plus aims to bring the benefits of digital health to all citizens, patients and healthcare professionals in order to improve cancer prevention and care across Europe.

Main objectives:

• To enhance digital collaboration among cancer centres;
• To implement a comprehensive training programme for digital skills development;
• To explore clinical applications of telemedicine in different cancer care settings;
• To bolster preparedness for the European Health Data Space’s implementation.

The project also includes:

• telemedicine implementation pilots;
• health data exchange use cases;
• virtual molecular tumour boards;
• digital discharge conferences;
• digital cancer prevention education programmes;

capacity building for effective telemonitoring and patient follow-up.

The project foresees a lasting impact on different targeted audiences and aims to support a wider rollout of eHealth in oncology.

Expected outcomes include:

• recommendations and guidelines for the uptake of telemedicine in cancer care;
• landscape analyses to map best practices and gaps in digital health literacy and cancer care initiatives;
• evaluation of cancer centres’ preparedness for the HealthData@EU platform;
• assessment of telemedicine interventions based on patient reported outcomes;
• development of protocols and toolkits to facilitate telemedicine implementation;
• blueprint for integrating cancer digital applications into EU healthcare systems;
• strategy plans for implementing the European Electronic Health Record Exchange Format;
• synergies with other cancer and digitalisation-related projects and stakeholders.

The project promotes collaboration among public health institutes, universities, hospitals, cancer centres and patient associations through a multidisciplinary approach focused on knowledge exchange, practical deployment and dynamic monitoring activities.