Vilnius, August 2026 - Work has begun on the first European evidence-based guidelines and quality assurance scheme for prostate cancer screening, diagnosis and care, developed under the European Commission Initiative on Prostate Cancer (EC-PrC). The new European initiative aims to strengthen the evidence base and quality standards for prostate cancer screening, diagnosis and care.
The EC-PrC is a long-term initiative of the European Commission and one of six Commission initiatives on cancer screening, diagnosis and care. It is scientifically and technically coordinated by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), a Directorate-General of the European Commission, with policy leadership from the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE). Its recommendations are decided by a multidisciplinary Working Group of clinicians, methodologists and patient representatives appointed by the Commission as a formal Special Group.
Verian Lithuania has been contracted for 34 months to support the JRC in establishing the initiative and in delivering its first outputs. The contract kicked off in June 2026 and work is now in a preparatory phase. The European Commission is appointing the members of the Working Group, and the initiative itself will begin with the Working Group's first meeting. In parallel, preparatory scoping and evidence mapping are under way to inform the guidelines and the quality assurance scheme.
The EC-PrC responds to the Council Recommendation of 9 December 2022 on strengthening prevention through early detection: a new European Union approach on cancer screening. The Recommendation invites Member States to extend organised, population-based cancer screening beyond breast, cervical and colorectal cancer to lung and prostate cancer and, in the light of further evidence, gastric cancer. For these cancers it recommends a stepwise approach, so that screening programmes can be planned, piloted and rolled out gradually in line with national circumstances and priorities, supported by evidence-based European guidelines and quality assurance schemes. It is on that basis that the Commission is establishing the EC-PrC.
The EC-PrC also builds on an established methodological base. It applies the integrated methodology developed across the earlier initiatives on breast, colorectal and cervical cancer, now applied across all six initiatives, with continuity of expertise from that work. A growing body of European research, joint action and project output on prostate cancer early detection is also available to draw on, and one of the initiative's early tasks is to establish which existing recommendations can be adopted or adapted, minimising duplication of effort.
Quality of and access to cancer care continue to differ substantially between Member States. The guidelines and quality assurance scheme are intended to help narrow those differences.
The EC-PrC will develop European evidence-based guidelines covering primary prevention, screening and diagnosis, and a quality assurance scheme comprising quality indicators and service requirements for prostate cancer services. The full set of guidelines and the complete scheme will be built up over time, beyond the duration of any single contract. Within the current 34-month contract, Verian Lithuania and its team of experts support the JRC in preparing a first subset of guideline recommendations and a first set of quality requirements for the scheme.
Both are intended for voluntary, stepwise implementation by Member States and healthcare services. This work is supported by topic-specific groups and an independent evidence review team.
Verian Lithuania is the contractor supporting the JRC in establishing the EC-PrC and in delivering its first outputs. Decisions on the content of the guidelines and the quality assurance scheme rest with the Working Group. Verian Lithuania leads a team that combines coordination and delivery infrastructure with scientific leadership from specialists of international standing in evidence-based medicine. The team's combined capability includes:
Sonata Brokevičiūtė, Deputy Project Coordinator, Verian Lithuania, sonata.brokeviciute@veriangroup.com