Newswise — BUFFALO, N.Y. — An unprecedented network of centers collaborating to share information and translate these pooled resources into personalized treatments for cancer patients has expanded to 16 institutions with the addition of Roswell Park Cancer Institute as a member. The National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center has joined the Oncology Research Information Exchange Network® (ORIEN), a unique research partnership among North America’s top cancer centers.
Formed in 2014, ORIEN is an alliance of cancer centers that have committed to contribute to a shared databank and to collaborate on clinical research in order to speed new therapies to patients. Its goals are to give oncologists ready access to a searchable and ever-growing repository of medical evidence to enhance treatment decision-making and, at the same time, make any new clinical insights or precision treatment approaches informed by this data available to as many eligible patients as possible.
“Precision medicine is driving the future of cancer research and care. The ability to study specific genetic markers and mutations, and match patients to clinical trials based on that information, is crucial. Bringing more partners into ORIEN allows us to increase our patient database and, in turn, accelerate our ability to conduct such research and clinical trials,” says William S. Dalton, PhD, MD, ORIEN co-founder and founder & Executive Chair of M2Gen.
“In order to bring exceptional oncology care to patients — care that is precise, less toxic and achieves durable responses — you must be able to show the evidence that the treatment will have the right impact. Such evidence can only be developed through research. When cancer centers work together to gather larger groups of patients with similar disease, we can conduct more meaningful research — faster, which will help us make the discoveries that impact people at the bedside,” says Michael A. Caligiuri, MD, ORIEN co-founder, Director of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and CEO of The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.
“ ‘Team science’ is a concept medical research centers work hard to nurture within our own institutions, but we haven’t always done a great job of making it work on a broader scale,” says Candace S. Johnson, PhD, Roswell Park President and CEO. “ORIEN is a network of centers committed to supporting and relying on one another, recognizing that collaboration is the key to driving our science forward and making a difference for patients. We couldn’t be prouder to help support and enhance this team effort.”
ORIEN allows clinicians and researchers at member centers to leverage multiple data sources and match patients to targeted treatments. Partner centers use a common protocol, known as Total Cancer Care®, to track the molecular, clinical and epidemiological data of consenting patients throughout their lifetimes. The resulting databank represents one of the world’s largest clinically annotated cancer tissue repositories, comprising data from more than 200,000 participating patients.
Researchers at ORIEN member institutions access this shared data warehouse to ask new research questions, develop more effective grant submissions and participate in cross-institutional collaborations and biomarker-discovery projects with academic partners and pharmaceutical companies. This rapid-learning environment allows scientists to analyze and share findings so that that research can be retested and insights re-applied.
M2Gen®, a health-informatics company formed to support ORIEN and its members, analyzes data from all participating ORIEN centers to more quickly connect patients with clinical trials based on their molecular profile. ORIEN provides the information and tools needed to study the long-term effects of disease, while assisting cancer center member institutions in their development of precision medicine.
“Our ability to isolate and understand the processes that unfold inside us, gene by gene, has started the flow of a monumental cascade of information,” adds Carl Morrison, MD, DVM, Clinical Chief of the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at Roswell Park and Executive Director of the of the Institute’s Center for Personalized Medicine. “ORIEN puts the promise of finding that needle of clinical effectiveness in the haystack of potential treatment options within reach, and we’re excited about putting these tools and resources to work for our patients at Roswell Park.”
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For a version of this release on the Roswell Park website, please visit: https://www.roswellpark.org/media/news/roswell-park-joins-orien-personalized-medicine-consortium
About Roswell Park:
The mission of Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1898, RPCI is one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or email [email protected]. Follow Roswell Park on Facebook and Twitter.
About ORIEN:
The Oncology Research Information Exchange Network® (ORIEN) is a national research partnership among several leading U.S. cancer centers that have joined together in an unprecedented collaboration to study, treat and ultimately cure cancer. Founded in 2014 by Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. and The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio, ORIEN is based on a model of cooperation, coordination, and efficiency in cancer research. This first-of-its-kind effort has led to the construction of the world's largest cancer database, with more than 200,000 patients committing to lifetime study through ORIEN's Total Cancer Care Protocol. Through this specialized, innovative approach to personalized medicine, researchers can better understand the disease and work in concert towards new developments and discovery in cancer care. For more information, visit www.oriencancer.org.
About M2Gen:
M2Gen® is a health informatics solutions company focused on accelerating the discovery and development of personalized medicines. M2Gen partners with the nation’s leading cancer centers through ORIEN to create a large, cancer-focused data warehouse linking clinical and molecular data. Using this information, M2Gen helps biopharmaceutical companies address the greatest challenges in oncology drug development. For more information, visit www.m2gen.com.
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