Only 20% of patients consider the possibility of participating in a treatment clinical trial because they were unaware that this was an option.
Recruiting patients is one of the most important aspects of running a successful clinical trial, and the most difficult. Biotech and pharmaceutical companies employ large teams, make considerable investments in advertising, and partner with Contract Research Organizations (CROs) to focus on patient recruitment, yet 60% of all clinical trials are delayed or terminated due to lack of enrollment.
In cancer-related clinical trials, recruiting and enrolling patients is even more difficult. 25% of cancer clinical trials fail to enroll enough patients and 18% of cancer trials shut down with less than half of the patients needed to meet requirements. According to The National Library of Medicine, out of the 15-25% of eligible patients, only 2-8% participate in clinical trials.
The challenges to meet are:
For clinical trial sponsors, overcoming these two hurdles is vital to the success of their research and their business. Simply selecting sites that have ample patients with the defined condition of the trial does not guarantee awareness, identification of eligible patients, or successful enrollment.
While most cancer centers have Electronic Medical Records (EMRs)with the patient information needed to identify potential clinical trial matches, IT teams rarely have the bandwidth to mine the patient data. Even with the widespread adoption of information technology in healthcare, sponsors, CROs, and research sites constantly struggle to solve these problems.
Until OncoLens, there has not been a simple answer to the complex issue of increasing awareness of clinical trials and identifying patients to participate in them.
OncoLens addresses both challenges through its Clinical Trial Matching and Patient ID solutions. By applying and customizing proprietary Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the inclusion/exclusion criteria of the trial, OncoLens analyzes the EMR’s structured and unstructured data. Real-time results are immediately available to the cancer center’s oncology research team, freeing up time for them to engage providers and patients.
Through the OncoLens platform, multidisciplinary care teams are proactively notified when their patients match the criteria of active clinical trials. There is no need for healthcare providers to be aware of all the available cancer trials at the site – OncoLens makes them aware at the point of treatment planning in forums such as tumor boards. The care team and specialists are then prompted to review the trials and decide if their specific patient should be informed of clinical trial options while planning their treatment pathway.
With OncoLens:
With a network of over 200 cancer centers relying on the OncoLens platform for their tumor board conferences and oncology workflow, OncoLens helps biotech and pharmaceutical companies educate and create awareness among healthcare providers to identify eligible clinical trial patients.