2026 Call for clinical studies

Conditions

To be eligible for funding, the project must meet the following seven criteria:

1. It must be a prospective clinical study (interventional or registry-based) investigating patient-relevant outcomes. The clinical study can focus on two domains of treatment for (former) cancer patients:

• The treatment of the cancer itself (conventional cancer treatment)

• The prevention and management of adverse effects of cancer and/or its treatment: supportive treatment.

The intervention may involve a (new) therapy, surgical technique, diagnostic test, lifestyle intervention or a comparison of different treatments (not limited to these examples).

Kom op tegen Kanker emphasizes both the importance of research into the treatment of cancer itself and research into supportive therapies that prevent or reduce the side effects of cancer(treatments). Therefore, applications in both domains will be evaluated separately, and a separate budget will be allocated for each domain.

2. The study must be conducted at any time as a function of maximising added value for (former) cancer patients. In this regard, the study must be characterised by the following aspects:

• Primary outcomes must meet a concrete need of (former) patients and be based on direct input from (former) patients.

• Primary outcomes must be patient-relevant and therefore result in a demonstrable improvement in quality of life and/or a demonstrable improvement in life expectancy while maintaining quality of life.

• A multidisciplinary approach with sufficient attention to the physical, psychological and social functioning of (former) patients.

• The safety of (former) patients must be a priority at all times.

• The accessibility and affordability of medical intervention must be taken into consideration.

3. The study must be qualitative in terms of:

• Evidence

• Research competence

• Methodology

• Feasibility

4. At every point in the study, (former) patients must be central and active patient participationmust be an integral part of the study. Co-creation between (former) patients and researchers is the goal.

5. We strongly encourage collaboration, including at the international level, with academic and non-academic centres to increase feasibility of the study (recruitment) and support for valorisation and implementation, among other things.

6. Research results must be fully valorised and/or implemented to realise the maximum added value for (former) cancer patients in practice as soon as possible.

7. Kom op tegen Kanker emphasises the complementary nature of its funding. We only award grants for clinical cancer research with a potentially high patient benefit but for which no or insufficient funding is being made available by government, industry and/or other funding sources.

Funding can be applied for by Belgian research institutions (non-profit) for both coordination of and participation in national and international clinical studies. To be eligible, recruitment of patients of Flemish institutions and accessibility of study-based treatment for patients in Flanders must be guaranteed.

Clinical research in the context of a public-private partnership may be eligible if it is necessary for the execution of the project, appropriate agreements regarding intellectual property are in place and if guarantees can be given on accessibility and fair price setting after the research is completed. Commercial/industrial parties cannot apply for funding themselves under any circumstances.

Applications for funding cannot be made for translational research within the call for clinical research projects.

New

• Belgian research institutions (non-profit) can submit an application.

• A limited budget can be requested to support patient recruitment at cross-border centers for an international study coordinated from Belgium.

• More awareness on supportive treatments.

Documents

All required documents are available via https://expro.komoptegenkanker.be

Deadlines and budget

• Deadline for submission of abstract: 19 January 2026 (11:59 AM)

• Deadline for submission of a detailed project proposal: 13 July 2026 (11:59 AM)

• Announcement of results: December 2026

Budget: 6 million euros (subject to budget approval for 2026), of which €4.5 million is allocated for clinical studies on conventional cancer treatments, and €1.5 million for clinical studies on supportive treatments.

In case of questions regarding the call or questions about the application forms, do not hesitate to contact us. This can be done until no later than two weeks before the submission deadline via financiering@komoptegenkanker.be.