About

The project

The Joint Action on Personalised Cancer Medicine (JA PCM) is a four-year European initiative aiming to support the implementation of personalised cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up strategies across Member States. Funded under the EU4Health Program, JA PCM brings together public health authorities, cancer centres, research organisations, and patient representatives from across Europe to reduce inequalities in access to innovation.

The project supports national health systems by:

Coordinating seven pilot interventions across the cancer care continuum
Developing practical tools, training programmes, and data infrastructure
Promoting equity, ethical implementation, and long-term sustainability
Aligning efforts with major EU frameworks such as Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, the European Health Data Space, and UNCAN.eu

JA PCM is organised into 13 work packages, grouped under three thematic arms:

Arm I – Personalised prevention and early detection
Arm II – Personalised medicine
Arm III – Personalised follow-up and tertiary prevention

Cross-cutting work packages address coordination, communication, training, ethics, and health technology assessment

Timeline

September 2025 – Project start

Official kick-off meeting in Brussels
Launch of internal platform, governance bodies, and communication tools

2026 – Pilot roll-out and baseline mapping

Final deliverables and public reports
Strategic roadmap for long-term national and EU-level actions
Closing conference and knowledge transfer activities

2027 – Evaluation and data collection

Mid-term analysis of pilot outcomes
Development of guidelines and implementation toolkits
Start of health technology assessment reports

2028 – Policy recommendations and sustainability planning

Final deliverables and public reports
Strategic roadmap for long-term national and EU-level actions
Closing conference and knowledge transfer activities

August 2029 – End of project

Consortium

JA PCM brings together over 140 organisations from 25 EU Member States and 4 associated countries, making it one of the most ambitious joint actions under the EU4Health Programme.

The consortium includes:

National public health institutes
Comprehensive cancer centres and hospitals
Ministries of health and national agencies
Academic and research institutions
Patient organisations and civil society groups

Coordination

Lead organisation: Sciensano (Belgium)
Project coordinator: Dr Marc Van den Bulcke

Governance

The project is overseen by a General Assembly, an Executive Board, and a Governmental Board composed of country representatives. These bodies ensure strategic direction, policy alignment, and high-level commitment from national health systems.

Synergies/Collaboration