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Researchers, clinicians, and innovators from across Europe gathered in Milan for the official launch of UNICA, an ambitious European project set to revolutionise how cancer is detected and diagnosed. Coordinated by Datrix S.p.A., Italy, UNICA unites partners from 10 countries and 12 hospitals to advance AI-powered cancer screening while keeping patients’ data secure and private.

At the heart of UNICA lies an innovative concept known as federated medical imaging, a technology that allows hospitals to train and test artificial intelligence models without transferring patient data. Instead of centralising sensitive information, AI algorithms travel to the hospitals’ data, learn from it locally, and return improved models to the shared network. This ensures full compliance with privacy regulations like the GDPR, while enabling Europe’s hospitals to collaborate as if their data were in one place.

“UNICA is about unlocking the power of data for the common good, without compromising patient privacy,” said project coordinator Dr. Michele Compare, CTO at Datrix. “Through artificial intelligence and secure data federation, we aim to make cancer screening faster, more accurate, and more accessible across Europe.

Building on the European Cancer Imaging Initiative

Funded by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA, grant agreement 101218966), UNICA directly expands the European Cancer Imaging Initiative (EUCAIM), a pan-European federated infrastructure for cancer images fueling AI innovations, and one of the flagships of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.

While EUCAIM is building the infrastructure, UNICA extends its reach, connecting hospitals from underrepresented regions such as Greece, Lithuania, Portugal, Poland, Slovenia, and Ukraine, ensuring a truly European representation of cancer data via a secure network of anonymised medical images

Over the next 42 months (2025–2029), UNICA will help these hospitals prepare and share de-identified images from breast, lung, and prostate cancer screening—including X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and mammograms. The data will feed into AI tools designed to assist doctors in early cancer detection and risk assessment, two of the most critical steps in saving lives.

Artificial Intelligence for Early Detection

In collaboration with the Politecnico di Milano and the Universitat Politècnica de València, Datrix will lead the development of AI models capable of detecting early signs of cancer that might be invisible to the human eye.
The models will be trained using federated learning, a cutting-edge approach that allows AI to learn from distributed datasets stored in different hospitals. UNICA’s AI pilots will initially focus on breast cancer risk assessment and lung cancer detection from chest X-rays, demonstrating how these technologies can assist radiologists in making faster and more accurate diagnoses.

The project will also adhere to the European guidelines for trustworthy AI, ensuring that the developed tools are transparent, explainable, and clinically reliable. This is crucial to building the trust of healthcare professionals and patients alike.

A European Collaboration Across Borders

UNICA’s medical network spans from Germany to Ukraine, creating one of the most geographically diverse collaborations in cancer imaging to date. Participating hospitals include:

• University Hospital Cologne (UKK) (Germany)
• Leipzig University Medical Center (Germany)
• Papanikolaou Hospital (Greece)
• University of Ioannina (Greece)
• Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kauno klinikos (Lithuania)
• Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław (Poland)
• Lusíadas Saúde Group (Portugal)
• Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo in Ponta Delgada (Portugal)
• University Medical Centre Maribor (Slovenia)
• Central City Clinical Hospital of Ivano-Frankivsk (Ukraine)
   

Together, these institutions will contribute thousands of imaging records, both retrospective and prospective, creating a powerful dataset for AI innovation while never compromising patient privacy.

Beyond Technology: Empowering Patients and Society

UNICA is not only a technological project; it is also a societal mission. Led by 81Watts, a multidisciplinary innovation boutique, the project will launch a data altruism campaign encouraging citizens to voluntarily donate their anonymised health data for research. By fostering understanding and trust, the initiative aims to inspire and influence people to contribute to scientific progress in cancer prevention and treatment.

“AI can only be as good as the data it learns from,” explained Dr. Matteo Bregonzio. “By empowering citizens to share their data safely, we build a collective force for better healthcare.”

A Shared European Vision

Collaborating closely with EUCAIM and related initiatives like the European Health Data Space and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, UNICA ambition goes beyond research; it aims to demonstrate how Europe leads in ethical and AI-driven healthcare innovation, to improve accuracy and quality in healthcare treatment for citizens.

“As a medical doctor in one of the leading Ukrainian hospitals, facing unprecedented challenges”  Dr. Ihor Sokolovskyi from Ivano-Frankivsk Hospital underlined how “UNICA is a valuable decision support system, driven by AI, to receive a broad and accurate picture to better treat patients detecting cancer earlier and save more lives.”

Progress, updates, and results will be released on the project website https://unica-project.eu/ and social media channels