Since 2021, the Intelligence Artificial and Cancers Association has been working alongside health industry companies, the French National Cancer Institute and the Health Data Hub, transforming healthcare data into therapeutic and diagnostic innovations for cancer patients. To date, ten cancer data reuse projects, led by health industry companies on themes with strong health stakes, have been supported, a result that far exceeds the initial objectives!
Cancer, the leading cause of death in Europe, is a major public health issue. They are the subject of extensive epidemiological monitoring, enabling the implementation, follow-up, and adaptation of policies to combat these pathologies. Cancer incidence, mortality, prevalence, and survival will be observed and documented. In addition, a vast amount of data is routinely produced, so-called “routine care” data (healthcare reimbursement data, hospital data, medical reports, etc.). Reusing this data opens new opportunities in the fight against cancer.
A wealth of oncology healthcare data unrivalled in Europe
The French healthcare system, as it is constituted, provides extremely detailed knowledge of healthcare consumption in France. The “medicalization” of these data, by matching them with exhaustive complementary databases on oncology patient management, opens unlimited prospects.
The French National Cancer Institute (INCa) has undertaken to consolidate all this routine care data on a single medium, creating a qualified data warehouse that is unique in Europe. This Cancer Data Platform, which acts as a data aggregator and facilitator for new research, notably through the possibility of database matching, is available to industrial project sponsors.
The Artificial Intelligence & Cancers Association provides scientific support for the design of studies using data from the INCa or Health Data Hub platforms, and legal support for project set-up.
From ideation to results, we work alongside the industry company project owner
After a detailed analysis of the project proposal regarding criteria such as potential impact, availability of resources, proposed methodology, etc., the team drafts the study synopsis. The proposal is thus formalized, detailing the project’s purpose, timetable, resources, budget and methodology.
The Board of Directors, made up of the world’s leading health industry companies in oncology, government agencies and professional associations dedicated to healthcare research and innovation, evaluates and enriches this synopsis. Once approved, the study protocol is drafted and submitted to the regulatory authorities (the Scientific and Ethical Council of the Cancer Data Platform (CSE-PDC) of the French National Cancer Institute, the ethical and scientific commitee of researchers in the medical field (CESREES) and the the national commission for data protection and liberties (CNIL)).
Once they have given their approval, the French National Cancer Institute (INCa) or a research firm will access, extract and analyze the data. A report will be submitted with the results.
To this day, in the two years of its existence, the network is proud to have supported ten data reuse projects by industrial companies on themes with high societal stakes, a result that far exceeds the initial objectives!
But the Association’s work doesn’t stop there…
Regulatory value for these innovative projects
The French National Authority for Health assesses the marketing authorization and reimbursement rates for products resulting from industrial R&D projects. The latter will base its opinion on all available scientific data. It is therefore vital for industry companies to be able to assure the authorities of the relevance of their innovations through new methods and algorithms, and to prove their acceptability.
To this end, the Association has entered dialogue with a number of authorities and is working to ensure the regulatory validity of innovative projects for the re-use of healthcare data.
But that’s not all…
Building a network of healthcare data players
The Association has been built around its founding members, but it is set to grow with the arrival of new players, both public and private, with expertise, technology, innovation and more. With the aim of creating a map of the sector’s driving forces, and promoting exchanges, the industry has launched a major referencing survey. The results should be available in early 2024.
The Association is on the move to accelerate innovation and research for the benefit of cancer patients.