Taproot Health, Five Cancer Centers Agree to Conduct Precision Oncology Master Trial, Share Data

NEW YORK – Taproot Health has signed memorandums of understanding with several National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers and community oncology clinics to conduct a master observational trial with the aim of collecting and sharing data that will help advance precision oncology. 

The data-as-a-service firm announced that the following organizations will join the effort: University of California Moores Cancer Center in San Diego; The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia; The Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health Science University in Portland; Utah Cancer Specialists in Salt Lake City; and Teton Cancer Institute in Idaho Falls. 

Within the Master Registry of Oncology Outcomes Associated to Testing and Treatment (ROOT) trial, the organizations have agreed to prospectively collect regulatory grade, real world data from consented patients. The aim is to ultimately build a national oncology database that can be useful in patient care and for developing new personalized cancer drugs and tests. 

"Precision oncology is stunted when critical patient data is not broadly shared. The ROOT [master observational trial] will serve as the foundational effort to collect and share the standardized and quality data that is needed to rapidly advance precision oncology," Jennifer Johnson, director of precision medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and a principal investigator for the trial, said in a statement.

The partners noted the advancement of personalized medicine relies on quality data that is currently available within medical clinics but isn't broadly accessible to the field. 

"To date, no effort has successfully unified academic and community practices to work together in collecting the quantity of data necessary to advance precision oncology," Raymond Bergan from the Knight Cancer Institute OHSU and a co-principal investigator, said in a statement. 

"We want to be part of a national effort to advance cancer research, and a transparent, shared revenue model allows us to do the research that is crucial to advance oncology," Utah Cancer Specialists CEO Randy Erickson added in a statement.