On February 24th 2026 a major new European research initiative, the Patient AI Treatment Hub (PATH), has officially launched, with the ambitious mission to transform cancer treatment and improve outcomes for patients across the European Union, through the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) and secure health data sharing.
Over the next 42 months, PATH will bring together 23 partners from 10 European countries, including universities, research organizations, private companies, public health bodies, and patient associations. By combining expertise from across sectors, the project aims to build a powerful AI-driven platform designed to support clinicians in delivering more precise, timely, and effective cancer treatment, reflecting a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to European health innovation.
The PATH project is supported by the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU) under grant agreement No 101253520. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program and COCIR, EFPIA, Europa Bío, MedTech Europe, and Vaccines Europe.
Cancer remains one of the most significant health challenges across the European Union with mortality rates projected to rise sharply in the coming years, and the economic burden already exceeding €100 billion annually, placing additional pressures on healthcare systems and patients alike. PATH seeks to tackle these challenges by enabling smarter, data-driven clinical decision-making and more personalized treatment pathways, while keeping patient privacy and safety at the forefront.
A major barrier in cancer care today is the fragmentation of health data across different systems and regions. PATH aims to connect this information in a secure and privacy-preserving way, enabling better insights while ensuring that patients’ personal data remains protected. Towards this, a federated, privacy-preserving health data space that enables secure exchange and use of complex, real-world healthcare information without centralizing sensitive patient records will be created. By combining cutting-edge technologies such as federated learning and Trusted Execution Environments, PATH will ensure that AI models can be trained and refined on distributed data while safeguarding individual privacy.
The AI-powered dashboard will serve as a central access point for clinicians, patients, and technology developers. Through this platform, validated AI tools can be deployed directly into clinical workflows, supporting early detection, diagnosis, personalized treatment planning, and survivorship care. The project will conduct pilot studies across Europe to evaluate improvements in clinical outcomes, survivability, healthcare efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. These large-scale demonstrations will help ensure that AI solutions are practical, safe, and beneficial for everyday clinical use.
In addition to technology development, PATH will promote digital literacy among healthcare professionals and foster cross-sector collaboration to support responsible and ethical AI usage. By engaging clinicians, patients, innovators, and policymakers, the project will create sustainable pathways for innovation and improve cancer care equity across different regions and care environments.
Through this shared vision of collaborative innovation and responsible use of health data, the PATH project aims by the end of its 42-month journey to have contributed to a more connected, data-driven, and patient-centered approach to cancer care across Europe and to have taken a significant step in the direction of Europe’s digital health transformation.
