EU4Health projects advancing the fight against childhood cancer

There are close to half a million people in Europe who have lived experience of cancer during their childhood and adolescence. Compared to their peers, survivors of cancer during childhood, adolescence and young adulthood (CAYA) have a greater risk of health problems and other issues related to survivorship.

On the occasion of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we put the spotlight on how funding available under the EU4Health programme is helping to improve long-term follow-up care and also psychosocial support to ensure optimal quality of life of young people affected by cancer. 

Recently concluded, the EU-CAYAS-NET project focused on building a European Network of Youth Cancer Survivors and creating a knowledge centre and an interactive platform, with the aim of improving the quality of life of young people with a history of cancer.  

The platform, where young cancer survivors can virtually meet and exchange among themselves and with healthcare providers, greatly contributed to social networking, peer-support and knowledge exchange. By the end of the project the virtual community included over 760 participants from more than 28 countries, including 55 enthusiastic survivors recruited as Ambassadors from 29 countries to represent the network across Europe.

The interactive platform offers more than 570 relevant resources in several EU languages, covering topics identified as important by survivors themselves. 

EU-CAYAS-NET organised vents, webinars, training, meetings for young cancer survivors, surveys, focus groups and online workshops. Many recordings of these are available on the project’s YouTube account. 

The EU-CAYAS-NET project has now concluded, but its work will continue thanks to the new YARN project. EU-CAYAS-NET resources and results will remain available on the platform and the vibrant network will continue to grow and work towards a better future for all survivors of CAYA cancer in this follow-up project. 

The European Youth Cancer Network (YARN) was launched in July and will run for 36 months. It will build on the work of the EU-CAYAS-NET and Outdoor Against Cancer Connects Us (OACCUs) projects to expand the EU Network of Young People Affected by Cancer. YARN will focus on peer support, social networking, and digital tools to improve access to information, particularly for those facing relapse, metastatic cancer, and the side effects of treatment.

The project will assess the role of social connections on the emotional wellbeing of young people with cancer. Through focus groups, peer visits, training programmes, webinars and workshops, YARN will implement psychosocial and mental health care standards and offer education and career support. It will also focus on healthy lifestyles and introduce exercise programmes to improve wellbeing. 

Through EU4Health, the EU is also supporting two further projects which develop psychosocial support for children with cancer and their families. Both are starting in October 2025.

IMPACT-EU (IMprove Psychosocial cAre and soCial supporT for children/adolescents with cancer and their families to improve quality of life for all) aims to establish Europe-wide standards for psychosocial care in paediatric oncology, ensuring comprehensive support throughout the treatment journey, including the transition to adult care. The project will develop evidence-based guidelines, based on quantitative and qualitative studies. To address training gaps, the project will offer training to people performing different roles in healthcare teams so they can offer holistic, patient-centred care. The training should also help foster collaboration across regions. The project will also pilot psychosocial screening and therapeutic tools in five centres across different European settings.  

ON-COME (paediatric Oncology Network and COmmunication on the Mind-body-Environment relationship) aims to transform the psychosocial and nutritional care provided to paediatric cancer patients, focusing on children, adolescents, and young adults (0-24 years). The project will develop a system that standardises best practices in psychosocial and nutritional care, ensures equitable access to high-quality services and integrates digital innovations for more personalised patient care. ON-COME will provide specialised training for healthcare professionals (HCPs), will also support patients, caregivers and HCPs workflow with digital health technologies and pilot these services in different clinical settings in the EU. 

Finally, in September, HaDEA has also signed the grant agreement with the EU4Health Joint Action HOPE4Kids, which aims to reduce inequalities across Europe by improving the quality and access to paediatric palliative care (PPC). Specialised PPC is unequally delivered across the EU, which results in the poor management of psychosocial and physical symptoms in many children with cancer during the later stages of the disease. HOPE4Kids will facilitate knowledge-sharing and develop guidelines to improve the development of high-quality PPC in all European countries.

Background 

EU4Health is the fourth and largest of the EU health programmes. The EU4Health programme goes beyond an ambitious response to the COVID-19 crisis to address the resilience of European healthcare systems. The programme provides funding to national authorities, health organisations and other bodies through grants and public procurement, contributing to a healthier Europe. HaDEA manages the vast majority of the total EU4Health budget and implements the programme by managing calls for proposals and calls for tenders from 2021 to 2027.