ASSOCIATION EUROPEENNE DES LIGUES CONTRE LE CANCER ASBL

Their core work

ECL is the Brussels-based umbrella association representing national cancer leagues and patient advocacy organizations across Europe. Their core value in research consortia is not laboratory science but network access and implementation reach: they connect researchers to the organizations that actually run public cancer screening programs, communicate with patients, and influence national health policy. In H2020 projects they contribute policy expertise, patient and community perspectives, and the ability to disseminate findings through their member leagues into real screening practice. This makes them a bridge between clinical research and the public health systems that must eventually adopt its results.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

ECL's first H2020 project (starting 2018) centred on precision medicine applied to breast cancer screening — genetics, polymorphisms, risk scores, and mammography — representing a scientific angle focused on personalising an established screening technology. Their second project (starting 2021) shifted sharply toward implementation science, equity, and the social determinants of screening access, with keywords like migration, HIV, socioeconomic inequalities, and cost-effectiveness replacing the earlier molecular terms. The direction is clear: from "how do we make screening smarter?" toward "how do we make screening reach everyone, especially those most likely to be missed?"

ECL is moving deeper into health equity and implementation research — future collaborations will likely focus on reducing screening disparities, reaching migrant and socially excluded populations, and translating evidence into national policy rather than generating new clinical evidence.

How they like to work

ECL has never led an H2020 project — they join as a participant partner, contributing their member network and policy expertise rather than directing research design. Despite only two projects, they have accumulated 45 unique consortium partners across 14 countries, which indicates they work in large, multi-country clinical or public health consortia where their Europe-wide reach is an asset. They are brought in for what they represent — an organised network of cancer patient and prevention organizations — rather than for technical or data-analysis capability.

With 45 unique partners across 14 countries from just two projects, ECL operates in large pan-European consortia typical of multi-site clinical trials and public health implementation studies. Their own membership network extends the effective reach well beyond the direct project partners, into national cancer screening systems across the continent.

What sets them apart

ECL is one of the few H2020 participants that can simultaneously reach national cancer leagues, patient organizations, and public health authorities in multiple EU member states — something no single university or research institute can replicate. For a consortium designing a cancer screening trial or a public health implementation study, having ECL as a partner provides both legitimacy with patient communities and a ready-made dissemination channel into real screening programs. Their value scales with how much a project needs real-world uptake, not just publication.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CBIG-SCREEN
  With the highest individual funding (€188,229) and a focus on reaching the hardest-to-screen women — migrants, HIV-positive women, and those in socioeconomic deprivation — this project represents ECL's most policy-relevant and socially impactful H2020 contribution.
• MyPeBS
  A decade-long international randomized controlled trial (2018–2027) comparing personalised genetic risk-based breast screening to the standard approach — one of the most ambitious ongoing trials in European cancer screening research.