The PM4Onco project aims to establish a long-term infrastructure for integrating and analyzing research and healthcare data, advancing the implementation of personalized cancer therapy in clinical practice.
PM4Onco, which stands for “Personalized Medicine for Oncology,” refers to new therapies that specifically target cancer based on its individual characteristics. Comprehensive information about the cancer and the patients, along with the latest research findings, is essential for these therapies. The project seeks to improve the flow of this data to oncology centers, where personalized treatment predominantly takes place. As part of the Medical Informatics Initiative (MII), researchers intend to create a data infrastructure. The goal is to aggregate, harmonize, analyze, and present data from various sources in a suitable format to support therapy decisions made by physicians in the Molecular Tumor Board.
The Molecular Tumor Board serves as a platform where an interdisciplinary team of medical and non-medical experts discuss all available information about the affected individual and their tumor, ultimately providing individualized recommendations for the most effective therapy.
Currently, the relevant clinical and biomedical data are scattered across different systems (hospitals, radiology, oncology or general medical practices, health insurance companies), often in different formats. This presents challenges in utilizing them for personalized treatment.
PM4Onco aims to establish a long-term network between 23 oncology centers and the significant medical institutions in their respective regions. The data will remain at their current storage locations and will be digitally integrated, allowing for better connectivity and decision-making support without physically relocating the data.