ONCORELIEF · Project

AI-Powered Digital Assistant That Monitors Cancer Survivors After Treatment Ends

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After cancer treatment ends, patients are often sent home with little ongoing support — but the health risks don't stop. ONCORELIEF built a smart digital assistant, a kind of "guardian angel" app, that checks in with cancer survivors daily, tracks how they're feeling physically and mentally, and flags problems early. Think of it like a health coach on your phone that knows your cancer history and can alert your doctor if something looks off. It uses AI to personalize advice and keep patients engaged in their recovery over months and years.

By the numbers

18.1 million

new cancer cases globally in 2018

9.6 million

cancer deaths globally in 2018

EUR 4,872,250

EU research investment in this technology

consortium partners across 7 countries

SMEs involved in development

The business problem

What needed solving

Cancer survivorship is growing — with 18.1 million new cases in 2018 and improving survival rates, millions of patients finish treatment each year but face ongoing physical and mental health challenges with limited structured support. Hospitals lack scalable tools to monitor these patients long-term, leading to missed complications, unnecessary readmissions, and poor quality of life. There is a clear gap for automated, personalized post-treatment monitoring that keeps patients engaged and clinicians informed.

The solution

What was built

ONCORELIEF built a final prototype of an AI-powered digital assistant — called the "Guardian Angel" — that monitors cancer patients after treatment using patient-reported outcome and experience measures (PROMs/PREMs), big data analytics, and personalized recommendations. The system includes 9 deliverables covering the full platform from data infrastructure to user-facing digital assistant.

Audience

Who needs this

Digital health companies building oncology or chronic disease platformsHospital networks and cancer centers managing post-treatment follow-up at scaleHealth insurers seeking to reduce cancer survivorship costsPharmaceutical companies running clinical trials needing patient-reported outcome toolsTelemedicine providers expanding into specialty cancer care

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Digital Health / Health-Tech

SME

Target: Digital health companies building patient monitoring or remote care platforms

If you are a health-tech company building remote patient monitoring tools — ONCORELIEF developed an AI-powered digital assistant specifically for post-cancer care that tracks patient-reported outcomes and wellbeing. The system was built by a consortium of 14 partners across 7 countries with 8 industry players, meaning the technology was designed with commercial deployment in mind from the start. Integrating this into your platform could open the oncology aftercare market.

Hospital Networks / Oncology Centers

enterprise

Target: Hospitals and cancer treatment centers managing post-treatment follow-up

If you run an oncology department dealing with growing numbers of cancer survivors needing long-term follow-up — ONCORELIEF built a personalized digital assistant that automates wellbeing monitoring using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs and PREMs). With 18.1 million new cancer cases reported in 2018 and survival rates improving, the volume of post-treatment patients is only growing. This tool could reduce follow-up clinic visits while catching complications earlier.

Health Insurance / Managed Care

enterprise

Target: Health insurers covering oncology patients and survivorship programs

If you are a health insurer looking to reduce long-term costs of cancer survivorship care — ONCORELIEF developed an AI system that keeps patients engaged in their wellness journey after treatment, potentially catching health deterioration before it requires expensive hospital readmission. The system uses big data analytics to personalize support, which could help you move from reactive to preventive post-cancer care. With 9.6 million cancer deaths globally and rising survivorship, the cost pressure is only increasing.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to license or deploy this technology?

ONCORELIEF was funded as a Research and Innovation Action with EUR 4,872,250 in EU funding across 14 partners. Licensing terms would need to be negotiated with the coordinator EXUS SOFTWARE LTD (UK-based SME). As a completed EU-funded project, results may be available under various licensing arrangements.

Can this scale to handle thousands of cancer patients?

The project developed a final prototype using big data analytics and AI, which suggests it was designed to handle significant data volumes. However, scaling to production-level deployment with thousands of concurrent users would likely require additional infrastructure investment. The 14-partner consortium included 8 industry partners, indicating commercial scalability was a design consideration.

What is the IP situation — can we license this?

As an EU-funded RIA project, IP typically belongs to the consortium partners who generated it. EXUS SOFTWARE LTD coordinated the project and would be the primary contact for licensing discussions. The consortium included 7 SMEs, so IP may be distributed across multiple partners depending on their contributions.

Has this been tested with real patients?

The project produced a final prototype deliverable, indicating the system reached a functional stage. The consortium included research and clinical partners across countries including Germany, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Cyprus, and Greece, suggesting clinical validation environments were available. Based on available project data, specific patient trial numbers are not disclosed in the summary.

How does it integrate with existing hospital IT systems?

Based on available project data, ONCORELIEF was designed as a user-centered AI system with a digital assistant interface. Specific integration protocols with hospital EHR systems are not detailed in the project summary. The presence of 8 industry partners in the consortium suggests practical interoperability was considered during development.

Is this compliant with EU medical device and data regulations?

The project ran from 2020 to 2023, during which the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR) took effect. As an EU-funded health project handling patient data, GDPR compliance would have been a baseline requirement. Specific CE marking or MDR classification status should be confirmed with the consortium.

What kind of ongoing support is available?

The project officially closed in June 2023. The coordinator EXUS SOFTWARE LTD is a private software company (SME) based in the UK, which suggests they may continue developing the technology commercially. Ongoing support availability should be confirmed directly with EXUS or the consortium partners.

Consortium

Who built it

ONCORELIEF's consortium is unusually industry-heavy for a health research project: 8 out of 14 partners (57%) are industry players, and 7 are SMEs. This signals the project was built to move toward market, not sit in a lab. The coordinator, EXUS SOFTWARE LTD, is a UK-based software SME — meaning a commercial tech company led the effort, not a university. With partners across 7 countries (Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, UK) and only 2 universities in the mix, the consortium profile suggests a technology that was developed with real users and real deployment challenges in mind, backed by EUR 4,872,250 in EU funding.

EXUS SOFTWARE LTDCoordinator · UK
FCIENCIAS.ID - ASSOCIACAO PARA A INVESTIGACAO E DESENVOLVIMENTO DE CIENCIASparticipant · PT
TIMELEXparticipant · BE
ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXISparticipant · EL
SUITE5 DATA INTELLIGENCE SOLUTIONS LIMITEDparticipant · CY
INNOSYSTEMS SYMVOULEUTIKES YPIRESIES KAI EFARMOGES PLIROFORIKIS YPSILIS TECHNOLOGIAS MONOPROSOPI IDIOTIKI KEFALAIOUCHIKI ETAIREIAparticipant · EL
EXUS SOFTWARE MONOPROSOPI ETAIRIA PERIORISMENIS EVTHINISthirdparty · EL
MAGGIOLI SPAparticipant · IT
ISTITUTO ROMAGNOLO PER LO STUDIO DEI TUMORI DINO AMADORI - IRST SRLparticipant · IT
MCS DATALABSparticipant · DE
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNAparticipant · IT
UNIVERSITAETSMEDIZIN DER JOHANNES GUTENBERG-UNIVERSITAET MAINZparticipant · DE
CARE ACROSS LTDparticipant · UK

How to reach the team

EXUS SOFTWARE LTD (UK) — a private software SME that coordinated the project. Contact through their company website or the CORDIS contact form.

Order a report on this consortium See EXUS SOFTWARE LTD profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want an introduction to the ONCORELIEF team? SciTransfer can connect you with the right people and provide a detailed technology brief tailored to your use case.

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