“Tinder” for Cancer Trials
By: Kristine Alarcon
Coping and dealing with cancer is often a difficult process, but it can be even harder to find clinical trials to help with their symptoms. Martin Naley, an employee at Life Technologies, a genetics company, realized that a large number of patients (around 85%) did not know that trials are an option or that a little more than half of clinical oncology sites cannot find the patients fit for their trials.
Naley wanted to help remedy the process of finding clinical trials with Cure Forward, a free website that functions similarly to the popular dating site, Tinder. On the website, cancer patients can find clinical trials by uploading their genetic sequence. Patients do not have to pay to put their gene sequence on Cure Forward since the oncology sites recruiting patients pay for the platform. Naley sums it up simply with “The trial finds you.”
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Cure Forward allows clinical oncology sites and patients to connect with one other. The site also lets patients communicate with other who have the same mutations too. Participants are also able to share their stories and experiences or inform each other on mutations and treatments.
Cure Forward will be available in September, but there will be a beta website released in July, 2015. More information about the website can be found here.
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Kristine Alarcon graduated at the University of San Francisco with a Bachelors of Science in Biology. She is working towards certification in Sterile Processing and Distribution. She is a Social Media Assistant at Cancer InCytes Magazine.
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References:
Bartlett, Jessica. “Cambridge company launches ‘Tinder’ for cancer trials.” Boston Business Journal. Retrieved on June 19, 2015. http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/health-care/2015/06/cambridge-company-launches-tinder-for-cancer.html
