Reflections from the CancerX Moonshot Inaugural Summit

Last week’s CancerX Moonshot Summit was an incredibly energizing experience - here’s what I took away from the meeting. 

Cancer patients' journeys are shaped by their experiences outside the clinical setting. These real-world experiences - the ones that matter most to patients as they navigate their treatment and survival - often go unnoticed. At Folia Health, our team is working diligently to amplify the patient voice in cancer research through the power of patients' own home health observations. I am proud to represent Folia as a founding member organization of the CancerX Moonshot initiative. 

Amongst the various topics discussed, here are some insights that resonated with me the most:

1️⃣ Only a minority of clinical trials in oncology have used COAs (Clinical Outcome Assessments) in the past 35 years. We must take more steps, as an industry, to measure broader outcomes to truly understand the patient burden and treatment effect.

2️⃣ Real outcomes data is distinct from claims, electronic medical record (EMR), and population surveillance data. We must tap into the potential of digital innovation to standardize patients' experiences and measure variability on an individual level.

3️⃣ Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs) used in cancer often lack specificity to the type of cancer or address patients' most pressing concerns. We need to bridge this gap with newer, better tools. 

4️⃣ Digital innovation has the incredible power to enhance data collection methods and validate new research strategies, ensuring we measure what truly matters to patients.

5️⃣ Collaboration across industries is vital to conduct validation studies and tackle this issue together.

By addressing these hurdles and fostering cross-industry collaboration, we can drive value directly to patients and revolutionize cancer research. It's a collective effort, and I'm inspired to be part of this transformative journey with Folia Health, the CancerX co-hosts Digital Medicine Society (DiMe) and Moffitt Cancer Center, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), and the other 124 partner organizations. 

Let's continue to work together to listen to patients’ priorities, improve outcomes, and create a better future in the fight against cancer.

To learn more about Folia: https://www.foliahealth.com/cancer-research

To learn more about CancerX: https://cancerx.health/