A newly patented computer system developed at a National CancerInstitute-designated Comprehensive CancerCenter in the US could refineand streamline oncology trials by matching registered patients’ molecularprofiles to suitably targeted drug candidates.
Patent Number US 8,095,389 B2 was issued to Moffitt CancerCenter in Tampa, Floridafor “Computer Systems and Methods for Selecting Patients for Clinical Trials”.
The aim of the technology, which includes an operatingsystem, software, interfaces and data retrieval capabilities, is to enhance theefficacy of patient selection in oncology clinical trials by making the processmore selective.
Specifically, the system is designed swiftly to identifyregistered patients whose molecular profile squares with the molecular designof the cancer drug in question. Profiles would be warehoused in a database incorporatingthousands of patient-donated biological tissue or tumour samples.
The newly patented system would also match patients toclinical trials by disease/diagnosis, by symptoms, by demographic informationand by family history. Moreover, it would track the disease progression ofclinical trial participants in relation to drug efficacy.
“With the development of new and better ways to examine and understand atumour’s molecular profile, matching the right patient to the right clinicaltrial becomes increasingly important,” Moffitt CancerCenter noted. “Buthandling the massive data evaluation necessary to accomplish this has been astumbling block.”
