Periodic Reporting for period 3 - CARDIOCARE (AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE ELDERLY MULTIMORBID PATIENT WITH BREAST CANCER THERAPY INDUCED CARDIAC TOXICITY)
Reporting period: 2024-07-01 to 2025-06-30
Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in Europe, accounting for 13,3% of all new cancer cases in 2020. Female breast cancer is the most frequent cancer reaching 355.000 cases in EU-27 in 2020. 1 in 11 women in EU-27 will develop breast cancer by the age of 74. About half of all new breast cancer patients are diagnosed at the age of 65 and above. Although breast cancer mortality rates have been declining each year in Europe, one of the main causes of non-cancer related death in women with breast cancer over the age of 50 is cardiotoxicity. Cardiotoxicity is the damage caused to the heart due to the cancer therapy complications, reducing life expectancy and Quality of Life significantly. The majority of the newly diagnosed breast cancer patients are older than 65 years of age, adding further complexity to the management and care of this patient population. Currently evidence-based best practices for risk stratification and management of the elderly cancer patients, including older women with breast cancer, are still lacking.
CARDIOCARE is an ambitious 5-year project which aims to rationally change the current state-of-the-art in the management of co-morbid cardiotoxicity in the elderly breast cancer patients. CARDIOCARE provides comprehensive solutions and actionable insights to assist prevention, improved stratification, early detection, and treatment of cardiotoxicity in the elderly breast cancer patients focusing on interventions for preserving the Quality of Life and intrinsic capacity in order to improve healthcare pathways.
To achieve its objectives, the consortium of CARDIOCARE is composed of highly multidisciplinary group of researchers with remarkable track record and complementarity. The CARDIOCARE consortium encompasses partners from 6 clinical centers, 3 private companies (2 SMEs), 1 research institute and 2 universities. Key partner of the project is the European Society of Cardiology, a world leader in the dissemination of best practices in cardiovascular medicine.
CARDIOCARE is an ambitious 5-year project which aims to rationally change the current state-of-the-art in the management of co-morbid cardiotoxicity in the elderly breast cancer patients. CARDIOCARE provides comprehensive solutions and actionable insights to assist prevention, improved stratification, early detection, and treatment of cardiotoxicity in the elderly breast cancer patients focusing on interventions for preserving the Quality of Life and intrinsic capacity in order to improve healthcare pathways.
To achieve its objectives, the consortium of CARDIOCARE is composed of highly multidisciplinary group of researchers with remarkable track record and complementarity. The CARDIOCARE consortium encompasses partners from 6 clinical centers, 3 private companies (2 SMEs), 1 research institute and 2 universities. Key partner of the project is the European Society of Cardiology, a world leader in the dissemination of best practices in cardiovascular medicine.
CARDIOCARE is a pioneering multidisciplinary project focused on improving the management of elderly multimorbid breast cancer patients at risk of cardiotoxicity. It integrates diverse data types—including clinical, biological, imaging, omics, psychological, and behavioral information—into a unified digital health platform. The project successfully recruited 640 patients for a multicenter prospective study, validating innovative risk stratification models and evaluating the effectiveness of eHealth behavioral and psychological interventions delivered via mobile applications to enhance intrinsic capacity and quality of life.
Technologically, CARDIOCARE developed a robust, scalable platform adhering to international standards to ensure seamless data integration, quality, and interoperability. The project has generated one of the largest omics datasets in this patient population, revealing promising links between gut microbiome profiles and cardiotoxicity, which may lead to novel non-pharmacological interventions. Advanced AI and machine learning models support accurate risk prediction, incorporating explainability and fairness to ensure ethical clinical use.
Regulatory, ethical, and economic considerations are rigorously addressed through continuous oversight, GDPR compliance, and cost-effectiveness analyses. Dissemination efforts include numerous scientific publications, presentations at major conferences, and collaborations with key stakeholders, enhancing the project’s impact and visibility. Effective project management and a 12-month extension enabled the achievement of recruitment and operational goals.
Overall, CARDIOCARE offers a scalable, patient-centered care model that moves beyond reactive treatment by proactively addressing cardiotoxicity and improving quality of life in elderly cancer patients, with significant potential to influence clinical practices and health policies across Europe and beyond
Technologically, CARDIOCARE developed a robust, scalable platform adhering to international standards to ensure seamless data integration, quality, and interoperability. The project has generated one of the largest omics datasets in this patient population, revealing promising links between gut microbiome profiles and cardiotoxicity, which may lead to novel non-pharmacological interventions. Advanced AI and machine learning models support accurate risk prediction, incorporating explainability and fairness to ensure ethical clinical use.
Regulatory, ethical, and economic considerations are rigorously addressed through continuous oversight, GDPR compliance, and cost-effectiveness analyses. Dissemination efforts include numerous scientific publications, presentations at major conferences, and collaborations with key stakeholders, enhancing the project’s impact and visibility. Effective project management and a 12-month extension enabled the achievement of recruitment and operational goals.
Overall, CARDIOCARE offers a scalable, patient-centered care model that moves beyond reactive treatment by proactively addressing cardiotoxicity and improving quality of life in elderly cancer patients, with significant potential to influence clinical practices and health policies across Europe and beyond
The project will employ an interdisciplinary patient-oriented approach by acquiring, processing and analyzing multidimensional datasets. Data will be obtained retrospectively from the available records of the participating hospitals and a multimodal dataset will be generated through a prospective clinical trial designed and executed as part of the CARDIOCARE project.
During the study, imaging, biochemical and molecular data will be combined with wearable devices and sensors, user application inputs, patient and caregiver questionnaires. Data will be stored, managed and processed using a data management platform while state-of-the-art algorithms will be developed and deployed for delivering a risk prediction model to assist clinical decision making towards better health and care, economic growth and sustainability of health systems.
During the study, imaging, biochemical and molecular data will be combined with wearable devices and sensors, user application inputs, patient and caregiver questionnaires. Data will be stored, managed and processed using a data management platform while state-of-the-art algorithms will be developed and deployed for delivering a risk prediction model to assist clinical decision making towards better health and care, economic growth and sustainability of health systems.