Moffitt Center system matches trial drugs to tumour profiles

A newly patented computer system developed at a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the US could refine and streamline oncology trials by matching registered patients’ molecular profiles to suitably targeted drug candidates.

Patent Number US 8,095,389 B2 was issued to Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida for “Computer Systems and Methods for Selecting Patients for Clinical Trials”.

The aim of the technology, which includes an operating system, software, interfaces and data retrieval capabilities, is to enhance the efficacy of patient selection in oncology clinical trials by making the process more selective.

Specifically, the system is designed swiftly to identify registered patients whose molecular profile squares with the molecular design of the cancer drug in question. Profiles would be warehoused in a database incorporating thousands of patient-donated biological tissue or tumour samples.

The newly patented system would also match patients to clinical trials by disease/diagnosis, by symptoms, by demographic information and by family history. Moreover, it would track the disease progression of clinical trial participants in relation to drug efficacy.

 “With the development of new and better ways to examine and understand a tumour’s molecular profile, matching the right patient to the right clinical trial becomes increasingly important,” Moffitt Cancer Center noted. “But handling the massive data evaluation necessary to accomplish this has been a stumbling block.”