On World Cancer Day, we are pleased to announce that the COMFORT project has partnered with the International Kidney Cancer Coalition (IKCC) and the Hellenic Cancer Federation (ELLOK) to put patient perspectives at the center of how we develop, evaluate, and deploy AI in cancer care.

Trustworthy AI requires more than technical accuracy and robustness. It requires understanding what patients actually need from these tools, what concerns them, and what would make them trust an AI-informed recommendation from their clinician. That understanding cannot come from engineers and researchers alone.

IKCC, a global network of kidney cancer patient organisations, brings direct insight into patients' lived experiences across different healthcare systems and cultural contexts. ELLOK, Greece's national federation of cancer patient organisations, has a long track record in advocating for patient-centered care, equity, and informed participation in health decisions.

What the collaboration looks like in practice

Together, we will conduct structured interviews and workshops with patient representatives to identify concerns around AI transparency and explainability and integrate patient feedback into the design and validation of COMFORT's AI models. A first joint workshop is planned for June 2026 in Sweden bringing together patients, clinicians, and AI researchers. On this World Cancer Day, we reaffirm that trustworthy AI in cancer care must be shaped by the people it is meant to serve.