Prime Highlights
- Cancer Core Europe’s Virtual Data Centre now holds data from 22,000 patients across four sites, with three more centres set to join.
- Under the European Health Data Space Regulation, secondary health data can be used for cancer research without patient consent, provided strict safeguards are in place.
Key Facts
- Cancer Core Europe brings together seven Comprehensive Cancer Centres across Paris, Stockholm, Barcelona, Cambridge, Heidelberg, Milan and Amsterdam, collectively treating 250,000 oncology patients each year.
- The European Health Data Space Regulation came into force in early 2025, creating a legal framework for cross-border health data sharing across Europe.
Background
Nearly 500 cancer researchers gathered at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm to explore how cross-border data sharing can improve cancer treatment and push personalised medicine further across Europe.
A central topic at the meeting was the secondary use of health data, where patient records collected during treatment are repurposed for broader research. Experts said pooling data from multiple countries is now essential, as modern cancer research divides patients into increasingly specific groups based on mutations, tumour subtypes and treatment histories. Studying these smaller groups requires far larger datasets than any single country can provide.
Janne Lehtio, professor of medical proteomics at Karolinska Institutet, said aggregating data at the European level helps oncologists better understand cancer populations and deliver more effective, targeted therapies. He added that this work cannot move forward without access to real patient data.
One key initiative driving this effort is Cancer Core Europe’s Virtual Data Centre, which currently holds data from 22,000 patients across four of its seven member centres. A fifth centre recently began contributing, with the remaining two expected to follow. The platform collects genomic, pathological and clinical data and is seen as an early model for the European Health Data Space in action.
Before reaching researchers, data is anonymised and pseudonymised in line with GDPR requirements. Access to more sensitive records is handled through a strict legal framework.
Researchers said the ultimate goal is faster, better cancer care for patients across Europe.
