Leading hub of data collection in precision oncology
CCE’s Virtual Data Centre (VDC): Advancing Precision Cancer Medicine through a Federated Data Ecosystem
Cancer Core Europe’s cross-border data sharing ecosystem in oncology makes data accessible to multiple applications, users, or organizations while ensuring that the sensitive parts of the data remain secure.
It accelerates scientific progress by enabling comparison and analysis across different countries and institutions. This cross-border collaboration allows researchers to identify patterns and differences, leading to more accurate conclusions and improved patient care.
The Virtual Data Centre (VDC): A Pillar of Innovation
In 2020, Cancer Core Europe (CCE) launched the Virtual Data Centre (VDC) to promote data exchange and collaboration across its network of leading cancer institutes. With a vision of becoming Europe’s leading center for real-world data collection and sharing in precision oncology, the VDC leverages data from translational and clinical studies to drive advancements in precision medicine.
The VDC is co-led by Prof. Dr. Janne Lehtiö (Karolinska Institutet), Dr. Marc Deloger (Gustave Roussy), and Prof. Dr. Martin Lablans (German Cancer Research Center, DKFZ). Their efforts focus on connecting all CCE Partners using the so-called Bridgeheads, which are capable of storing both structured and unstructured data at scale—to maximize data utilization across the CCE network.
By employing a federated architecture and standardized workflows, the VDC ensures the secure and GDPR-compliant use of healthcare data for decision-making, research, and innovation. It serves to integrate and analyze multimodal data—clinical and, prospectively, molecular, and imaging—for both research and clinical applications. CCE VDC is 100% built on open standards and free open-source software (see https://github.com/samply).
The CCE Federated Explorer
As its main gateway for data sharing, CCE has established a federated data portal (called CCE Federated Explorer), which is designed to enable secure querying of potentially available clinical/patient data across the participating centers, while ensuring that all data remains local at the respective centers. Once data has been identified through exploratory queries and vetted by established governance processes, access can be requested for further investigation.
Case Study: Basket of Baskets (BoB) Clinical Trial
The VDC’s capabilities are exemplified by its role in the Basket of Baskets (BoB) clinical trial, where it enabled the deployment of the multisite Molecular Tumor Board Portal (MTBP). This centralized portal combines clinical, histopathology, and multiomics profiling data, automating analysis through established pipelines enhanced by in-house and public repositories. The MTBP delivers actionable reports that guide clinical decisions, including trial enrollment, genetic counseling, and treatment prioritization.
Advancing Effective Data Sharing
The VDC represents a transformative initiative in European cancer research, enabling secure data sharing and collaboration to advance precision medicine. By aligning with GDPR requirements, leveraging cutting-
edge technology, and fostering cross-institutional partnerships, the VDC sets a benchmark for integrating real-world data into clinical and research applications.
The Cancer Core Europe VDC initiative is also strongly aligned with the objectives of the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and related EU-wide efforts to enable secure secondary use of health data for research, innovation, and precision medicine. Its efforts promise to accelerate the development of precision cancer treatments, ultimately improving outcomes for patients across Europe.
A key strategic opportunity lies in alignment with PHOENIX, HL7 Europe’s cancer interoperability accelerator launched in 2025, which is developing a unified European cancer data model through the HL7 Europe Common Cancer FHIR Implementation Guide. By mapping its data structures to these standardized FHIR profiles and value sets and participating in HL7 Europe connectathons and working groups, the VDC would enhance interoperability among European cancer centers, registries, and research networks — strengthening its position as a future-proof hub for multi-center studies and real-world evidence generation.
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