The Australasian TeleTrial Model is creating opportunities for regional patients to access cancer treatment in clinical trials closer to home, a medical oncologist says.
The model is also enhancing workforce capabilities and attracting new investment from industry, according to Professor Sabe Sabesan, director of medical oncology at Townsville Hospital .
Speaking to the limbic after the recent COSA ASM, Professor Sabesan said improving safe and ethical access to new treatments in regional and rural settings was the main goal of the teletrial model endorsed by COSA.
“This is all about access and disparity in access and that could also be related to disparity in outcomes in many disease settings including cancer.”
He said despite the improved outcomes seen with clinical trials, Australians’ participation in them was below international benchmarks even in metropolitan settings.
“What these teletrials do is link smaller sites with larger sites through a telehealth model and telehealth governance.”
The linkage of primary and satellite trial sites into trial clusters is proving to be flexible enough to accomodate trials for different cancer types and meet local needs.
“For example if you have a common disease, Townsville can be a stand alone site and also link to Mt Isa, Mackay, Cairns … so those patients don’t have to come to Townsville. And also you can rotate the primary sites. We could collectively decide that the next trial is based in Cairns or Mackay.”
For rarer diseases, where each site may only recruit one or two patients, a metropolitan hospital could also be the primary or a satellite site.
“Even the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital can be a satellite to Princess Alexandra Hospital so patients can stay with their oncologist and continuity of care will be maintained. Patients don’t need to switch hospitals,” he said.
Professor Sabeson, who is also head of the Townsville Clinical School at James Cook University, said one of the pilot studies in Queensland had already completed, three were ongoing and a fifth trial was about to open.