Tempus, a health-tech company that enables physicians to deliver personalized cancer care through its interactive analytical and machine learning platform, announced today that it was selected by the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network to serve as a partner in its Precision Promise initiative, the first large-scale precision medicine trial designed to transform outcomes for patients with pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and anticipated to become the second by around 2020. The disease kills more people than breast cancer and has a five-year survival rate of just eight percent. Nationally, only four percent of pancreatic cancer patients enroll in clinical trials.
After conducting a rigorous review and selection process, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network selected Tempus to provide genomic sequencing and analytics for its Precision Promise initiative. Tempus will collect and analyze large amounts of genomic data using statistical analysis, machine learning, and proprietary algorithms to enable Precision Promise collaborators to make real-time, data-driven decisions for their patients.
“Tempus shares the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s belief that every individual is unique and also shares its desire to help patients find the treatment that is best suited for them,” said Eric Lefkofsky, Co-founder and CEO of Tempus. “We have built a platform that merges powerful analytics with cutting edge bioinformatics to empower physicians to make data-driven decisions tailored to each patient’s unique molecular profile.”
Starting in the spring of 2017, patients will enroll in Precision Promise at a local Clinical Trial Consortium site. Each patient will undergo advanced molecular profiling to determine their tumor’s unique molecular features and inform which Precision Promise sub-study will best match their individual needs. Once on treatment, patients will be monitored closely and follow-up analyses will be conducted to provide important clues to help researchers quickly understand the effectiveness of each treatment in real-time.
“The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network chose to partner with Tempus because of our shared vision of enabling precision oncology through an adaptive, constant learning process that uses rich molecular and clinical data together and puts the patient at the center of all decision-making,” said Julie Fleshman, JD, MBA, president and CEO of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
The 12 initial Clinical Trial Consortium sites participating in Precision Promise were selected through a competitive peer-reviewed process and include Cedars-Sinai (Los Angeles), Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (Boston), Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance/University of Washington (Seattle), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York), University of California, San Diego (San Diego), University of California, San Francisco (San Francisco), University of Chicago (Chicago), University of Florida (Gainesville, Fla.), University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.), University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), Virginia Mason (Seattle) and Washington University (St Louis).