Pan-European Breast Image Platform for Advanced AI-based Breast Cancer Screening

BreastSCan unites 20 partners across Europe to build a dataset of over 1 million breast cancer images for the Cancer Image Europe platform, supporting the European Cancer Imaging Initiative and advancing AI innovations to improve screening, diagnosis, and care.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Europe, and early detection is key to saving lives. Today, advances in digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) are opening new possibilities to make breast cancer screening more accurate, efficient, and accessible. BreastSCan brings together leading hospitals, research centres, and technology partners across Europe to harness these opportunities. The project will collect over one million breast images from 20 partners in nine countries, making it one of the largest and most diverse datasets of its kind.
This data will be integrated into the Cancer Image Europe platform for use by researchers and innovators, strengthening Europe's competitiveness in AI-driven cancer research. BreastSCan is focused on establishing common guidelines for data quality,
building a secure technical infrastructure, and training healthcare professionals to use AI tools effectively. Its long-term goal is to enable earlier cancer detection, leading to better treatment outcomes and higher survival rates for patients throughout Europe.

Expected Results/Outcomes 

• Better Quality Data: Introduction of common European standards for breast cancer imaging, ensuring scans are more consistent and comparable across countries.
• Shared Platform: Integration of existing and new imaging data into the Cancer Image Europe platform, creating a powerful resource for researchers and doctors from day one.
• Training Healthcare Teams: Development of training programs to equip doctors and radiologists with the skills to effectively use new digital tools and AI in clinical practice.
• Solid Infrastructure: Creation of a common, standardized technical backbone to facilitate easy, safe, and secure data sharing across participating hospitals.
• Smarter Diagnostics: Increased adoption of AI tools in hospitals to support faster, more accurate, and more personalized detection of breast cancer.
• Pan-European Reach: Expansion of the dataset to include images from more countries, reflecting Europe’s population diversity and enhancing the applicability of research results.
• Clear Rules and Trust: Implementation of standardized processes and strong legal safeguards to ensure that patient health data is used securely and ethically

BreastSCan Work Packages
WP1: Project management and coordination
WP2: Ethico-legal management
WP3: Technical infrastructures
WP4: Clinical site preparation and data management
WP5: Testing of AI tools on the BreastSCan platform
WP6: Alignment with the EUCAIM project
WP7: Dissemination and Communication
WP8: Evaluation and Sustainability

Abstract
With 374,800 new cases and 95,800 deaths in the EU in 2022, breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common cancers. Screening mammography has proven to be effective; however, relevant challenges remain. The BreastSCan project aims to create a large-scale, high-quality dataset from BC screening for testing innovative artificial intelligence (AI) tools for improving BC diagnosis and care by facilitating contribution to the Cancer Image Europe platform deployed by the EUCAIM project in alignment with the European Cancer Imaging Initiative. BreastSCan will support the creation and harmonisation of data warehouses for secondary data use and enable hospitals and imaging data repositories to join Cancer Image Europe. By integrating images and related clinical data from BC screening into a central and a set of local nodes federated to Cancer Image Europe, the project will significantly contribute to BC data sharing, enrichment, and research, expand the geographic coverage of the European Cancer Imaging Initiative, and strengthen alignment with the European Health Data Space and its infrastructures.
BreastSCan brings together 20 partners (14 data providers) across 9 EU countries to compile a dataset of ≥1 million images (mammograms, ultrasound, and MRI) from ≥250,000 imaging procedures, with ≥ 30,000 images from 7,500 proven BC cases. By using the BreastSCan dataset for testing cutting-edge AI tools for screening in specific use cases (image preprocessing, image quality, breast density classification, lesion detection/characterisation, and BC risk stratification), the project will contribute to elevate standards in cancer care, fostering reduced disease mortality and improved life quality through digital innovations in line with the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. BreastSCan will pave the way for the integration of AI in BC screening practice improving
workflow efficiency and diagnostic power as well as enhancing AI literacy among healthcare professionals, patients, and citizen.

Coordinator: European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research (EIBIR)
Number of Partners: 20
Start Date: 1st of September 2025
End Date 31st of August 2029
Total Grant Amount €4,572,072.55
EU Funding €3,657,658.05
Funding Programme EU4Health Programme 2021–2027
Grant Agreement No. 101219312
Participating Countries Austria, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Croatia, Sweden, Malta, Greece, Hungary
EIBIR Project Website: https://www.eibir.org/projects/breastscan/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/breastscan/

Disclaimer:
BreastSCan is co-funded under the EU4Health Programme 2021–2027 under grant agreement no. 101219312. Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Health and Digital Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.