Dr. Robbe Saesen, the Vice-Chair of the European Cancer Organisation's Digital Health Network, presented on how digital technologies were transforming every aspect of modern life, and cancer care was no exception. From electronic health records and telemedicine to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, digitalisation offered significant opportunities to improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. Realising this potential, however, required more than simply adopting new tools. Successful integration depended on addressing challenges such as interoperability, cybersecurity, data governance, digital literacy, and equitable access, while ensuring that innovation delivered meaningful value for patients and healthcare systems. The European Cancer Organisation's Digital Health Network brought together experts and stakeholders from across the cancer community to help navigate these challenges. By fostering collaboration, sharing best practices, and informing policy, the Network aimed to support effective, equitable, and sustainable implementation of digital technologies into cancer care across Europe. Dr. Saesen presented its setup and work, while highlighting opportunities for engagement.

Juan-José Ventura is the Research and Patient Engagement Director for Cancer Patients Europe.

In this seminar, co-organised with Cancer Patients Europe, he provided clinicians and researchers with training on effective communication and meaningful involvement of cancer patients in research activities. The seminar focused on improving researchers' knowledge of patient engagement in research projects, the role of patient representatives in influencing European cancer policy, and approaches for better communication, dissemination, and feedback collection. By strengthening collaboration between researchers, clinicians, and patients, the seminar supported more patient-centered and impactful cancer research practices

Prof. Mieke Van Hemelrijck, Professor of Cancer Epidemiology at King’s College London, and Prof. Bernard Rachet, Professor of Cancer Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine brought complementary perspectives on mobilizing real-world data to address inequalities in cancer care.

In this seminar, Prof. Van Hemelrijck discussed why inequalities must be studied across the full care pathway and how harmonised indicators and federated analytics enable cross-system learning. Prof. Rachet then drew on his work with Cancer Research UK and the ICON programme to show how population-based routine data can quantify these inequalities to inform policy and service improvement.

Dr. Diego Chowell is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Immunology and Immunotherapy, Oncological Sciences, and Artificial Intelligence and Human Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York.

Routine blood tests and basic clinical data, collected for nearly every cancer patient worldwide, represent an underexplored resource for understanding systemic immune status and predicting response to therapy. These measurements capture critical aspects of inflammation, immune cell balance, and overall physiological condition, offering a cost-effective and scalable complement to tumor genomics and tissue-based biomarkers.
In this seminar, Dr. Diego Chowell will introduce SCORPIO, a machine learning system that leverages these widely available data to predict outcomes for immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy across multiple cancer types. Validated in real-world settings and 10 phase 3 clinical trials, SCORPIO outperforms FDA-approved biomarkers and more complex machine learning models, highlighting the untapped potential of everyday clinical data to advance precision immuno-oncology.

Dr. Charles Weijer from Western University (Canada) explored the evolving ethical landscape of modern randomized controlled trials and their implications for research practice. As Professor of Medicine (Critical Care) and Philosophy, Dr. Weijer brought unique expertise from his leadership in developing the first international ethics guidelines for cluster randomized trials and his work on WHO guidance for health policy research.

Attendees learned how pragmatic RCTs, designed to inform real-world clinical decisions, challenge traditional informed consent approaches when conducted across diverse patient populations and complex healthcare settings. Dr. Weijer examined why cluster RCTs, which randomize groups rather than individuals, require rethinking research ethics beyond individual participant protection, and how these challenges offer opportunities to deepen our understanding of core ethical principles in clinical research.

Dr. Nikolaus Schultz from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (USA) will present MSK-CHORD, a comprehensive clinicogenomic dataset that combines natural language processing with structured medical data from nearly 25,000 cancer patients.

Learn how machine learning models trained on MSK-CHORD outperform models based solely on genomic data or cancer staging, and discover findings from over 700,000 annotated radiology reports, including a relationship between SETD2 mutation and reduced metastatic potential in immunotherapy-treated lung adenocarcinoma.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08167-5

Dr. Ravi B. Parikh from Emory University School of Medicine (USA) presented on “Real-world Emulation of Clinical Trials: Novel methodologies & Applications for Trial Design and Clinical Practice”. Dr. Parikh presented his TrialTranslator framework, which uses machine learning to evaluate how cancer treatment trials generalize to real-world patients. Dr. Parikh shared compelling insights about the gap between clinical trial results and actual patient outcomes.

The post-presentation discussion was also valuable, with Dr. Qi Long helping to address technical methodological questions.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-03352-5

Dr. Anna Dorothea Wagner from Lausanne University Hospital (Switzerland) presented on "Gender Medicine & Oncology” highlighting how biological sex and gender constructs influence health outcomes across medical care. She explained that biological sex determines crucial host factors affecting cancer susceptibility and medication responses, while demonstrating evidence of “sexual dimorphism” in cancer – showing distinct biological differences when cancers occur in male versus female patients, even in non-reproductive organs. Wagner emphasized that gender shapes lifestyle choices and risk factor exposure, with continuous epigenetic interactions between biological sex and gender. She also addressed how clinical trials typically analyze sex/gender differences only for primary endpoints, with observed differences rarely impacting drug registration or treatment guidelines.

DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp2403550