Miguel Quintela, coordinador del proyecto y director del Programa de Investigación Clínica del CNIO. / Amparo Garrido. CNIO
The volunteers altruistically give their time to contribute to this research, which will not improve their own treatment, but that of future patients. In just one year, 110 women with breast, lung or colon cancer have been registered on the system.
Using their data, which include their behaviour and emotional state, models will be created which in the future can help predict the evolution of the disease, and which treatments and habits will be most beneficial for each patient.
These models will pave the way for the development of virtual assistants that “will never replace the medical team, but will help to solve cases better,” says Miguel Quintela, from the National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), coordinator of the project.
‘Digital Twins’ is part of the IMPaCT Personalised Medicine Programme developed by the Carlos III Health Institute. It has been allocated 2.5 million euros of public funding.
In October 2023, the ‘Digital Twins’ project launched an appeal to find 300 women with advanced breast, lung or colon cancer who were willing to provide information about their disease. Their collaboration would be purely altruistic: by participating, they would not improve their own treatment, but potentially that of other women with cancer in the future.
After a year, Miguel Quintela, director of the Clinical Research Programme at the National Cancer Research Center (CNIO), says the response has been “very satisfactory”. 110 volunteers have already been selected, and more are continuing to register.
The information they provide will be used to create virtual models of patients, with the help of artificial intelligence. In these digital twins, medical teams will be able to study how the disease will evolve, which treatments could be most effective in each case and which lifestyle habits will contribute to a better outcome from therapies.
It is one of the most ambitious personalised medicine initiatives in Spain. Led by the National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) and allocated 2.5 million euros in funding over three years, this public research project – technically called High-definition oncology in women’s Cancer – is part of the IMPaCT (Infrastructure of Precision Medicine Associated with Science and Technology) programme launchedby the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII).
In addition to CNIO, nine hospitals, two universities and the CRIS Cancer Foundation are also involved (see list at the end of the press release).
Very high quality samples and data
Data from the first 30 participants selected were presented at the meeting of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO), held recently in Barcelona.
“We consider them to be very satisfactory, because more samples have been collected than expected and their quality, and that of the data, is very high,” explains Quintela, coordinator of the project. “The study is very complex in terms of both sample and data typology, and it also involves active patient collaboration.”
Tracking through smart watches
These women are monitored and biological samples –blood, faeces, urine, …– are collected at collaborating hospitals throughout Spain, but the participants themselves record data related to their habits and emotional states through smart watches and an app. It is a huge amount of information that artificial intelligence helps to integrate.
The long-term vision is to turn those virtual models for studying the disease into active assistants to the medical team, “a kind of co-pilot, with much greater capacity than us to process and digest the information,” says Quintela. “Cancer treatment will still be directed by the doctor, it will never be decided by the machine, but it is about providing a co-pilot for each patient, an additional tool that helps to solve each case better.”
Participation requirements
Participants should be adult women with a confirmed diagnosis of a solid cancer tumour requiring first-line treatment, and who have not received prior treatment for metastases. Among other requirements, their cancer must be in the advanced stages of the tumour without the possibility of curative treatment.
Through this link, you can find out more about the study and the requirements to participate, as well as the contact information.
Participating institutions:
CNIO, National Cancer Research Centre.
Cris Cancer Foundation
Madrid Polytechnic University (AIL-PUM research group)
Carlos III University (group UC3M-SPG)
Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada
Hospital de la Princesa Health Research Institute
ICO – Hospitalet Bellvitge
Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valencia
Hospital Universitario Son Espases
Hospital Universitario de Navarra
Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de A Coruña
Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Macarena
Hospital San Pedro de Alcántara