Developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) for diagnosis and treatment of paediatric cancer

• The project will support research and innovation and further collaboration on artificial intelligence technologies applied for diagnosis and treatment of paediatric cancers. Project results are expected to cover a representative range of stakeholders and solutions across EU/EEA countries, with a particular focus on patients, carers and survivors. The project is expected to create synergies and complement the activities under the pilot project funded from the previous call (PPPA-AIPC-2020). The project should link to and collaborate with relevant stakeholder groups and EU initiatives (including the European Reference Network for Paediatric Oncology, ERN PaedCan and the European Platform on Rare Disease Registration (EU RD Platform)) and build on other EU-funded projects (for example, the Paediatric Rare Tumours Network – PARTNER project).

The particularity of paediatric cancers being rare diseases necessitates a collaborative approach to collate and integrate the data collected in all member states, including best practices and new technologies in order to further develop common solutions. The use of big data for better insights in cancer genesis, outcomes and the long-term side effects of treatments is currently under-developed.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are powerful tools allowing for complex data analytics on large-scale data sets with great potential for fostering precision cancer medicine for all young people in Europe. Further advances in the diagnosis and treatment of paediatric oncology will require multinational, multidisciplinary integrated healthcare and research data platforms that will allow real world data simulations of machine-learning algorithms and artificial intelligence that can be exploited in data-driven clinical decision support applications that directly benefit patients.

The project will create synergies and complement the activities under the pilot project funded from the previous call (PPPA-AIPC-2020) to support the development of multi-national approaches to facilitate capturing data on paediatric cancer from multiple sources, and build a multi-stakeholder network. It will have a particular focus on patients, survivors and carers as active contributors and participants in the co-creation and definition of user requirements and overall usability of applications of Artificial Intelligence technologies in paediatric cancer. The project will take into account and further complement the analysis of the challenges, needs and gaps in capturing data on paediatric cancer across EU/EEA countries produced by the pilot project funded under the previous call. It will further advance the framework to find solutions and prioritise opportunities to bridge existing gaps with a multi-national, multi-disciplinary approach, in particular with regard to user and stakeholder engagement. Mapping and building on existing multi-disciplinary and multi-national platforms/datasets and registries including the European Platform on Rare Disease Registration (EU RD Platform) the project will contribute to paving the road to a European point of access for integrated healthcare and research data platforms that collate clinical data, including, for example, clinical history, relevant diagnostic tests (pathology, genomics, radiological imaging), treatment interventions and clinical outcomes for childhood cancers. The project will contribute to a multi-stakeholder network to connect and facilitate the exchanges and dissemination of best practices in clinically relevant applications of machine-learning and artificial intelligence among all relevant stakeholders with a specific focus on user empowerment and feedback. The project should focus on multiple applications, for example radiological imaging, digital pathology, digital twins, integrated genotyping and outcome prediction algorithms and clinical decision-making. The project should consider the specificities of paediatric cancer, across types and stages of tumours.

The European Commission adopted on 04 May 2021 a decision on on the financing of pilot projects and preparatory actions in the field of "Communications Networks, Content and Technology" and on the adoption of the work programme for 2021 (C(2021) 3006 final).

Paediatric cancers are a collection of diverse rare diseases that together represent individually life-threatening diseases and collectively a major public health issue. With 35,000 new cases and more than 6,000 children and young people dying each year in Europe, paediatric cancer remains the leading cause of death from disease for children and adolescents. Two-thirds of survivors live with the long-term treatment-related side effects that can be severe and impact on the daily life of half of those affected.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in is an important enabler of advancements in the field of health and care: it can unlock data insights needed to support data-driven decisions for diagnostics and treatments. In particular, AI has the potential to carry out complex tasks that are currently performed by specialists to improve diagnostic accuracy, increase efficiency of throughputs, improve clinical workflow, decrease human resource costs and improve treatment choices. In this sense, AI technologies have the potential to ease the burden on the health system and improve access to healthcare (e.g. screening) in remote or low resource areas. AI may also play a role in training healthcare professionals.