The MatchMiner computer platform, developed at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, helps physicians and clinicians
"MatchMiner can be used by an oncologist or other physician to find patient-specific test options," he notes"Or it could be used by a team of researchers to identify potential trial participants by tweaking a genomic filter that selectscandidates for certain genomic criteria."
Unlike most other matchmaking platforms,which are intended for use in one oncology center, MatchMiner is open source and can be adapted by other institutions. As new research is discovered at Dana-Farber, the curator reviews it for inclusion in MatchMiner, ensuring the platform stays up to date. As of March 2021, 354 precision medicine trials are integrated into MatchMiner.
In the new work, the researchers analyzedregistration data for precision medicine trials at the Dana-Farber Clinic to determine if MatchMiner is speeding up the process of finding a suitable trial for patients whose tumors have been genomically profiled. The researchers found 166 cases where the platform identified a potential match between a patient and a trial, and the trial team or the patient's oncologist reviewed that match, leading to the patient's consent to participate in the trial.
"We found that consent time in the MatchMiner group was 55 days faster than in the non-MatchMiner group, which is 22% longer," they sayScientists.