Industry
Consortia
Challenge
Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains one of the most lethal malignancies in Europe, largely because it is often detected too late for curative treatment. To combat this, the PANCAID (PANcreatic CAncer Initial Detection via liquid biopsy) consortium has launched an ambitious mission to develop a minimally invasive blood test capable of detecting the disease at its earliest stages.
Impact
At Collective Minds, we are proud to be a key partner in this Horizon Europe-funded project. While our roots are in medical imaging, PANCAID represents a significant expansion of our capabilities. We are deploying our infrastructure to manage and harmonize complex liquid biopsy data, demonstrating that a robust data platform with our know-how can handle far more than just radiology images.
Key Product
Research
PANCAID CONSORTIUM
PANCAID is an international research consortium aiming to develop a minimally invasive blood test using liquid biopsy to detect pancreatic cancer to facilitate early detection of the cancer and its precursors. With 18 members from eight countries, the project has received funding for five years to potentially revolutionize current pancreatic cancer diagnosis methods and improve patient outcomes.
Consortium partners:
- Universitaetsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE)
- Karolinska Institutet
- Spanish National Cancer Research Center
- Medical University of Graz
- Umeå University
- Pancreatic Cancer Europe ASBL
- Concentris research management gmbh
- Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Montpellier
- Universitatsklinikum Heidelberg
- Uppsala Universitet
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Collective Minds
- Maccabi Health Care Services Foundation
- Fundación para la Investigación Biomédica del Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal
- The Chancellor Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge
- Region Stockholm
- ZAVA Global GmbH
- Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
- Queen Mary University of London
The Challenge: Finding the "Needle in the Haystack"
The PANCAID project aims to identify a composite panel of biomarkers (including circulating tumor DNA, extracellular vesicles, proteins, and metabolites) that can signal the presence of cancer years before standard diagnosis.
To achieve this, the consortium will analyze thousands of blood samples from individuals at risk, patients with precursor lesions, and diagnosed patients. The data generated from these samples is vast, complex, and multi-modal. Gathering the data from multiple sites and assuring that data is curated in the same way requires a secure environment that aligns perfectly with Collective Minds platform and experience.
Our Role: The Central Hub for Multi-Omics and Clinical Data
In PANCAID, Collective Minds is responsible for the architecture and storage of the project's central Data Repository. We act as the central hub where all project data (ranging from patient clinical history to complex molecular analysis) is ingested, harmonized, quality-controlled to ensure all data follows the defined variable template, and managed.
Here is how we are powering this liquid biopsy revolution:
Managing Diverse Liquid Biopsy Data
Unlike traditional radiology projects, PANCAID generates high-volume numeric and genomic data. Our platform stores data from diverse liquid biopsy methodologies, including:
Genetic profiling: Analyzing circulating tumor DNA for mutations and methylation patterns.
Extracellular Vesicle profiling: Examining proteins and micro-RNA cargo.
Cellular profiles: Detecting circulating tumor cells and host cells in the blood.
Metabolomics: Analysis of circulating metabolites using mass spectrometry.
Cohorting, Dashboarding, and Harmonization
All data types—whether clinical, epidemiological, or molecular—are managed within the repository. By centralizing this information, we enable the consortium to utilize powerful cohorting and dashboarding capabilities. This allows researchers to filter subjects based on specific criteria (such as diagnosis, age, or specific risk factors) and visualize complex datasets in real-time. This harmonization is critical for the project’s partners to train Artificial Intelligence algorithms that will identify the best composite biomarker panel for early detection.
Uncompromising Data Security
Handling sensitive patient data requires the highest standard of security. We have implemented a GDPR-compliant framework that ensures data privacy "by design and by default. Patient identifiers are pseudonymised within the clinic's private network before they ever reach the PANCAID repository. This ensures that while data is accessible for high-level research and AI analysis, patient privacy is never compromised.
Looking Ahead
The PANCAID project is not just about gathering data; it is about saving lives by closing the gap between onset and diagnosis. By providing a secure, multi-modal repository that integrates clinical history with cutting-edge liquid biopsy data, Collective Minds is helping to build the foundation for the next generation of cancer diagnostics.
We are excited to support this consortium, led by Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf and involving prestigious institutions including Karolinska Institutet, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Uppsala Universitet, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Montpellier, and Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authorities can be held responsible for them.
(Grant Agreement No 101096309)