"With the arrival of new colorectal cancer (CRC) therapeutics targeting specific cell signalling pathways, such as anti-EGFR therapy, personalised cancer treatment is at the door step of clinical practise. This progress in drug development contrasts strikingly with current clinical practice, where decision making depends largely on clinical factors such as tumour staging and age of patient, with the success of such treatments being largely unpredictable. 5-FU-based chemotherapy represents the main stay of CRC therapy. DNA damaging agents such as 5-FU and anti-EGFR therapy seek to induce tumour regression through induction of apoptosis or sensitization to apoptosis. Dysfunctional apoptosis is well recognized as a key contributing factor in chemotherapy resistance. The aim of the APODECIDE consortium is to develop systems medicine tools that predict treatment responses in CRC patients to 5-FU-based chemotherapy and anti-EGFR therapy, based on a systems analysis of apoptosis and EGFR signalling pathways. Based on previous clinical proof-of-concept studies that demonstrated the unique potential of such approaches in predicting tumour resistance, the APO-DECIDE consortium aims to deliver new clinical decision making tools that enable personalised medicine approaches and ‘smart’ clinical trials design in the future. The SMEs will benefit from the project through the development of systems-based combinatorial biomarkers adapted to formalin fixed paraffin-embedded material, the routine material used in clinical histopathology, hence providing a unique opportunity for marketing and exploitation. SMEs and their academic partners will also develop computational whole body models reflecting drug pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics in patient cohorts, providing a unique market niche in the field clinical oncology."