EU Missions are a novelty of the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme which focus on bringing concrete solutions to some of Europe’s greatest challenges.
The Cancer Mission supports the European Commission’s priority on Beating Cancer and is an element of the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.
In Europe, each year 2.7 million people are diagnosed with cancer and 1.3 million lost their lives due to this disease.
The cancer mission intends to accelerate the development of concrete solutions by providing a better understanding of cancer, allowing for earlier diagnosis and optimisation of treatment and improving patient’s quality of life during and beyond their treatment.
This will be achieved by joining efforts across Europe with citizens, stakeholders and Member States. Here is the Cancer Mission Implementation Plan.
Main Cancer Mission objectives include:
- Understanding cancer
- Prevention and early detection
- Diagnosis and treatment
- Quality of life for patients and their families
Funding calls can be found in the Cancer Mission Work Programme 2025, which is available to download.
Download the General Annexes to the Cancer Mission Work Programme here.
Events
The information session on the Cancer Mission 2025 took place on the 23 May 2025.
Find the link to the recording here.
All upcoming events are shared on the HRB X/Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.
National Contact Points
Applicants to the Cancer Mission are supported by the Health Research Board (HRB) National Contact Point, Dr Irene Castellano, who can be contacted at icastellano@hrb.ie. A second Cancer Mission NCP based at Enterprise Ireland, Dr Martha Cahill, can be contacted at martha.cahill@enterprise-ireland.com.