BreastSCan aims to create one of the largest and most diverse breast cancer imaging datasets ever compiled in Europe. By uniting 20 partners (including 14 major data providers) from nine countries, the project will collect over one million breast images — including mammograms, ultrasound, and MRI scans — from more than 250,000 imaging procedures. This will also include at least 30,000 images from 7,500 confirmed breast cancer cases, ensuring that the dataset can be used to develop and test AI tools for breast cancer screening in eight use cases: image preprocessing, image quality, breast density classification, lesion detection/characterisation, and breast cancer risk stratification.
The project is closely linked to the European Cancer Imaging Initiative through the EUCAIM project, contributing directly to Cancer Image Europe — the European platform for cancer imaging data. By building this dataset in line with European standards and legal frameworks, BreastSCan will not only make valuable data available but also ensure that it is interoperable, secure, and ethically managed.
Among the challenges of BreastSCan are customizing screening intervals, predicting the occurrence of cancer detection cases between screening rounds, reducing overdiagnosis, and improving radiologists’ performance in case detection.
By combining cutting-edge technology with European collaboration, BreastSCan is paving the way for earlier detection, better care, and ultimately, fewer lives lost to breast cancer.
Project CoordinatorThe coordinating institution of BreastSCAN is the European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research (EIBIR)
IACS participationBiocomputing department and Data Science department from IACS are leading WP 3, the creation of an infrastructure and will conduct training tests for various scenarios relevant to breast cancer screening practices.
FundingBreastSCan is co-funded under the EU4Health Programme 2021–2027 under grant agreement no. 101219312. Funded by the European Union.
Start Date: September 1, 2025 | End Date: August 30, 2029
Web information: The IACS is contributing by leading the technical solutions and supporting the project with its clinical and epidemiological expertise. Specifically, Biocomputing department and Data Science department from IACS are leading the creation of an infrastructure and will conduct training tests for various scenarios relevant to breast cancer screening practices.
This WP provides the technological design of the components needed to build a federated network of nodes capable of sharing catalogues of BC images, discovering, finding and accessing these images in a FAIR-compliant way. It will orchestrate federated learning processes across the network to develop accurate AI models for BC diagnosis, aligned with the EUCAIM architecture, and be compliant with the components of HealthData@EU. This WP will serve as technological support to BreastSCan partners in this project.
List of BreastSCAN partners
WP 3 BreastSCan Leader
Carlos Tellería-Orriols, Juan González-García, Enrique Bernal-Delgado, Francisco Estupiñán-Romero
Edificio CIBA
Avda. San Juan Bosco, 13
50009 Zaragoza
976 715 483
atlasvpm.iacs@aragon.es
cienciadedatosysalud.iacs@aragon.es
Atlas VPM dependiente del IACS, es reconocido por el Ministerio de Sanidad y Servicios Sociales e Igualdad, como Registro de utilidad para el Sistema Nacional de Salud.
