Episode 4 - Potential Impact of Data Integration Projects

Peter Salgo, MD; John L. Fox, MD, MHA; Ira M. Klein, MD, MBA, FACP; Michael Kolodziej, MD; Bryan Loy, MD; and Irwin W. Tischler, DO, highlight projects such as CEO Cancer Life Sciences Consortium’s Project Data Sphere, Yale and Janssen’s Yale School of Medicine’s Open Data Access Project, and the National Institutes of Health’s Big Data To Knowledge initiative, and discuss their roles in integrating data from key cancer trials.

Although the panelists agree that these programs and similar initiatives show great promise in terms of potentially influencing drug development and patient care in oncology, Dr Loy remarks that it remains to be seen whether the programs can collect data and process them into a form that is useful and relevant. Drs Fox and Klein add that financial and privacy barriers may prevent key stakeholders from accessing and using data.

According to Dr Kolodziej, patient demands, or consumerism, may drive the future development of oncology drugs. He explains that patients are now conducting their own research on the Internet before meeting with healthcare professionals. However, Dr Fox questions the level of influence that patients have with regard to drug development, and remarks that pharmaceutical companies determine where to invest their money in terms of research and development.