GE HealthCare Leads Major European Initiative to Advance Cardio-Oncology Care

Cardiovascular complications are increasingly recognized among people undergoing or recovering from cancer treatment, driven by pre‑existing disease and the cardiotoxic effects of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted agents. Despite this burden, reliable biomarkers and standardized, evidence‑based pathways for prediction, early detection, and prevention remain limited, contributing to avoidable morbidity and mortality. A new pan‑European program now aims to advance earlier detection and risk prediction by combining artificial intelligence, advanced imaging, biomarkers, and integrated care models across cardio‑oncology.

GE HealthCare announced it will serve as the lead industrial partner in COMPASS, a five‑year initiative to improve precision cardio‑oncology care and the early detection of cardiovascular risks in cancer patients and survivors across Europe. With a total budget of €50.5 million and participation from more than sixty partners, COMPASS is described as one of the largest public‑private partnerships within the European Union’s Innovative Health Initiative. The effort targets rising cardiovascular disease in oncology, noted as the second leading cause of death among cancer survivors and accounting for up to 10% of mortality.

COMPASS will pursue an end‑to‑end, patient‑centered clinical pathway intended to enable timely intervention and safer continuation of cancer therapy while reducing cardiovascular complications. The technology framework includes identification of novel biomarkers for cardiotoxicity diagnosis and risk stratification using innovative molecular imaging, advanced cardiac imaging techniques, and multi‑omics discovery integrating genetic, molecular, and metabolic data. It also encompasses artificial intelligence (AI)‑enabled predictive models and clinical decision‑support tools that fuse real‑world data with imaging, non‑imaging, biomarker, and wearable data for personalized care, alongside work to strengthen integrated care delivery and patient engagement.

The program emphasizes multidisciplinary collaboration and regulatory alignment to help translate clinically meaningful innovations into routine practice. It is co‑funded under the Horizon Europe framework through the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking, with support from European life‑science industry associations and consortium partners. The grant agreement (No. 101253264) was signed on March 25, 2026, initiating a five‑year timeline for the consortium.

“King’s College London is looking forward to providing academic leadership and scientific coordination to COMPASS, harnessing the consortium expertise across cardiology, oncology, molecular science, big data and AI to address the increasing challenge in cardiotoxicity in cancer care. We aim to promote integrated care models to drive widespread adoption across healthcare systems,” said Steve Archibald, Professor in Molecular Imaging, School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, King’s College London.

“We are honored to play an integral part as industry lead in this multidisciplinary collaboration which brings together the expertise of leading European academic, clinical, industry, and patient advocacy groups. By developing an AI‑powered, integrated care pathway that connects oncologists and cardiologists in clinical practice, this collaboration has the potential to further improve cancer survival by tackling cardiovascular‑related morbidity,” said Eigil Samset, General Manager, Cardiology Solutions at GE HealthCare and COMPASS Industry Lead.

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