Reading between the stripes - launch of a new tool makes clinical trials accessible for every NETs patient

Summary

The first neuroendocrine tumor clinical trial finder for patients and physicians has been launched by Ancora.ai and NorCal CarciNET. The free online tool offers personalized, unbiased trial results and can be accessed at https://www.ancora.ai/neuroendocrine. It is also available at NorCal CarciNET',  INCA Alliance and NETRF's websites. 

1. Introduction:

Clinical trials are often the best (sometimes only) treatment option for neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) due to rapidly evolving research in the space and a dearth of good standard of care treatment options. However, identifying the right clinical trial is a tedious task even for specialist physicians, and a nearly impossible one for patients.

2. About the tool:

• After meeting in an ASCO workshop in March 2022, NorCal CarciNET and Ancora.ai continued the dialogue on access to trials and decided to join forces to address this information gap. They have now launched the first NETs trial finder tool to support patients and healthcare practitioners to easily find and access suitable NETs trials.
• The collaboration to develop the tool was kicked off in September 2022 and was underpinned by a global expert panel of oncologists, scientific researchers, and patients. The panel identified the core patient characteristics required for efficient trial matching, validated an analysis of eligibility criteria across NETs trials and contributed real-world medical experience throughout the tool development process. To ensure broad access to trials, a simple online questionnaire was developed to collect these patient characteristics and automatically return trial results. The trial finder tool was also thoroughly tested with patients to ensure usability.
• Within 2 months of kicking off the collaboration, the first version of the NETs trial finder tool was launched at North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (NANETS) Multidisciplinary NET Medical Symposium at the end of October 2022 in Washington DC. During the 3-day conference, more than 400 inquiries were made by oncologists and patients who tested the tool with positive feedback.
• “The online NETs trial finder tool is a first-of-its-kind resource for patients and oncologists alike. Finally, we have an easy, but comprehensive tool to quickly identify relevant neuroendocrine tumor trials for a patient in minutes.” -Thorvardur (Thor) R. Halfdanarson, M.D., NETs Scientific Expert Panel Member The NETs trial finder tool is currently being deployed with medical and patient organizations globally to further increase access to NETs trials. For questions and more details on the trial finder tool, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

3. About NorCal CarciNET

• NorCal CarciNET’s mission is to help those with neuroendocrine tumors and carcinoid to share challenges and experiences, learn about prognosis and treatments, find information, and improve communications between the medical community, patients and caregivers. By providing opportunities for our members to connect with others who have these rare illnesses, they will enable them not only to get their questions answered but also to give and receive emotional support. In addition, they aspire to bring greater awareness to the medical community and the public so as to promote earlier detection and treatment of these often unrecognized illnesses.

4. About Ancora.ai AG:

• Ancora.ai is a health tech company on a mission to help all cancer patients access clinical trials. Ancora.ai’s artificial intelligence technology restructures clinical information to make it easy for anyone to find relevant trials in minutes. They’re proud to be a trial finder service provider for many organizations, including the American Cancer Society’s Blue Button Project.