The nascent rise of decentralized technologies in the cancer care research space has led to new research underpinning their impressive metrics for adoption among patients. A survey put together by American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS/CAN) dove into the popularity of wearables, self-report systems, online portals, and the like as data conduits for trials, with clear evidence of improved enrollment rates. Most of the 1,183 patients surveyed indicated that convenience considerations—such as participation shelf life and travel impediments—are at the top of their priority list, and confirmed that these decentralized tools are the key to bringing in representative populations.
“If given the opportunity to enroll in a cancer clinical trial that required travel farther than their regular care, a majority of respondents indicated that they would be more likely to participate if the trial used decentralized tools that would decrease the need for travel to a trial site,” said lead author Devon Adams, a Senior Policy Analyst for emerging science at ACS/CAN. Adams also pointed out that convenient trial tech could also broaden sponsorship and CROs diversity. Unconnected research conducted by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development similarly found that decentralized trials cut costs and sped overall enrollment.
