GE HealthCare has taken on the role of lead industrial partner within the COMPASS consortium, a Europe-wide initiative focused on strengthening cardio-oncology care. Backed by the EU’s Innovative Health Initiative (IHI), the five-year programme unites over 60 partners and operates with a total budget of €50.5 million. Its central objective is to enhance early detection and prediction of cardiovascular complications among cancer patients.
The programme responds to a rising clinical challenge, where cardiovascular disease is increasingly observed in individuals undergoing or recovering from cancer treatment. This trend is associated both with pre-existing conditions and the adverse effects of therapies such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted treatments. With heart-related complications now identified as the second leading cause of death in cancer survivors, the need to advance cardio-oncology care has become more urgent across healthcare systems.
Through COMPASS, participating organisations aim to establish a structured, patient-focused care pathway that enables earlier identification and coordinated management of cardiovascular risks linked to cancer therapy. The initiative integrates artificial intelligence, advanced imaging technologies, biomarkers, and real-world data to strengthen risk prediction, support timely diagnosis, and enable more personalised clinical decisions.
“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,” said Steve Archibald, Professor in Molecular Imaging at King’s College London. “We aim to promote integrated care models to drive widespread adoption across healthcare systems.”
According to GE HealthCare, the collaboration also prioritises improvements in care delivery by aligning clinical pathways and enhancing patient engagement. These efforts are intended to support the safe continuation of cancer treatments while minimising long-term cardiovascular risks. “This initiative is well positioned to enable patient-centered cancer care that takes cardiotoxicity risk into account, supports the early detection of cardiotoxic side-effects, and promotes long-term heart health for oncology patients,” said Eigil Samset, General Manager, Cardiology Solutions at GE HealthCare and COMPASS Industry Lead.
