CraNE Joint Action

The CraNE Joint Action is proposed for funding in response to the flagship number 5 of the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, which defines that the European Commission will establish by 2025, an EU Network linking recognised National Comprehensive Cancer Centres (CCCs) in every Member State. In order to facilitate the establishment of such an EU Network, CraNE will prepare the necessary preconditions, administrative, professional, and those related to high-quality performance. This is necessary to facilitate both the integration of the existing CCCs as well as to support the Member States who still need to develop and certify such centres. The CraNE JA will also provide an assessment on sustainability and feasibility as well as link the development of an EU Network of CCCs and CCCs in individual Member States to the development of national and regional CCCNs. This way, the existing organisational and functional models of cancer care will be considered and incorporated into the proposed solution.

There is a need to establish the specific tools and definitions for the Network of CCCs as well as for the establishment of the secretariat of such a Network. Alongside the Network of CCCs, there is also a need to develop adequate definitions for the setup of the CCCNs, where CCCs stand as the central institution according to the hub-and-spoke model.

The main aim of this JA is to create an EU network of the already existing and newly established CCCs, to support the implementation of quality-assured early detection, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support to cancer survivors, and training of the cancer workforce. To achieve the wider-ranging goals of the EU Cancer Mission and EBCP, i.e reducing cancer incidence, and achieving overall improvement of survival of and quality of life of cancer patients, we believe that the precise objectives of an EU Network of CCCs should be: (a) reducing inequalities of diagnosis, treatment and care, and access to clinical trials; (b) strengthening the quality of translational, clinical and outcomes research; (c) integrating clinical care and research and evaluating the quality of cancer care throughout. Namely, the current picture of CCCs and Networks in MSs shows patchy development, as well as variability in aims, scope, and governance. Diverse international quality accreditation mechanisms already exist, and many CCCs already adhere to them. Moreover, for defined purposes, a range of EU networks of CCCs also exist, which are national, cancer-specific, or have formed to address specific issues. Significant achievements of pre-existing networks should be considered, to exploit them and avoid duplication of efforts.

Added Value

CraNE JA builds directly on the achievements and outputs of the iPAAC JA.  It will continue to develop the theme of the necessity of the integration of cancer care, research and education throughout the patient pathway, and prior to that, in the areas of prevention and screening of the population.  iPAAC has successfully built upon the CanCon JA definition of Comprehensive CCCNs by defining care standards for such networks (pan-cancer) and for cancers-specific tumours (colorectal and pancreatic) and piloting those standards in two MSs (Poland and Germany).  iPAAC has also defined methodologies for depicting patient pathways across networks, for quality indicators in colorectal and pancreatic, and in constructing Patient Reported Outcomes Measures (PROMs). All these tools will be capitalised upon in CraNE.

The main ambition of CraNE is to fulfil the main objective of delivering the organisational framework and functional profile for the Network of CCCs. As this is one of the flagships of EBCP, the complete setup of the Network will have an important impact on the future organisational models in cancer care in Europe. CraNE will prepare the design and functionalities of the EU Network of CCCs and define how the development and quality evaluation of CCCNs will enable the quality of care of CCCs to reach 90% of eligible patients by 2030. The focus will be on the added value of the EU Network, which will provide collaborations, interactions as well as research and training opportunities. The short-term effect will be in establishing closer collaboration among CCCs in the EU. This collaboration will provide the framework for broader exchanges of best practices, improvements of cancer care as well as for research. The medium-term effect will be in establishing different types of networking, cross-border collaborations and implementation projects based on the endorsement of best and good care practices within the Network. The overall impact of the JA will be to provide a complete platform for the implementation of an  EU-level network of CCCs by 2025, together with a complete set of eligibility criteria, a mapping of all potential centres in the EU, an admissions process, governance systems and secretariat for the EU Network, integrated core quality standards for care for CCCs and CCCNs, education and research which take into account existing best practices, sustainability processes, recognition processes for existing centre accreditation systems, pre-selection criteria of the first centres, development processes for emerging centres, and procedures for continuous quality improvement

Expected Results and Material

The project will develop a model of the European Network of Integrated Cancer Control Centres, including a professional, scientific, educational and administrative framework for a sustainable structure. The European Commission is funding a project in line with the content of the fifth initiative of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, which states, inter alia, that 90% of eligible patients must have access to the European Network of National Integrated Cancer Control Centres by 2030.

Project Duration: 1 October 2022–30 September 2024

Supporting Organisation: National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ)

Funding: The Crane Joint Action project is co-financed by the European Commission under the EU4Health 2021–2027.