Status and Recommendations of Technological and Data-Driven Innovations in Cancer Care: Focus Group Study

Haridimos Kondylakis,Daria Kurz,Hui Wang,Octavio Rivera-Romero,Bryan Scotney,Cristian Axenie,Andrik Rampun,Roma Maguire,Angelina Kouroubali,Christos Maramis,Naiara Muro,Iván Macía,Nekane Larburu,Philip Morrow,Reyer Zwiggelaar,Manolis Tsiknakis,Kostas Marias,Gabriel Ruiz Signorelli ,Dhundy Bastola ,Dimitrios G Katehakis ,Francisco J Núñez-Benjumea

doi:10.2196/22034

Abstract

BackgroundThe status of the data-driven management of cancer care as well as the challenges, opportunities, and recommendations aimed at accelerating the rate of progress in this field are topics of great interest. Two international workshops, one conducted in June 2019 in Cordoba, Spain, and one in October 2019 in Athens, Greece, were organized by four Horizon 2020 (H2020) European Union (EU)–funded projects: BOUNCE, CATCH ITN, DESIREE, and MyPal. The issues covered included patient engagement, knowledge and data-driven decision support systems, patient journey, rehabilitation, personalized diagnosis, trust, assessment of guidelines, and interoperability of information and communication technology (ICT) platforms. A series of recommendations was provided as the complex landscape of data-driven technical innovation in cancer care was portrayed.ObjectiveThis study aims to provide information on the current state of the art of technology and data-driven innovations for the management of cancer care through the work of four EU H2020–funded projects.MethodsTwo international workshops on ICT in the management of cancer care were held, and several topics were identified through discussion among the participants. A focus group was formulated after the second workshop, in which the status of technological and data-driven cancer management as well as the challenges, opportunities, and recommendations in this area were collected and analyzed.ResultsTechnical and data-driven innovations provide promising tools for the management of cancer care. However, several challenges must be successfully addressed, such as patient engagement, interoperability of ICT-based systems, knowledge management, and trust. This paper analyzes these challenges, which can be opportunities for further research and practical implementation and can provide practical recommendations for future work.ConclusionsTechnology and data-driven innovations are becoming an integral part of cancer care management. In this process, specific challenges need to be addressed, such as increasing trust and engaging the whole stakeholder ecosystem, to fully benefit from these innovations.

Highlights

Often enabled by the availability of big data and advanced analytics, have demonstrated the potential to enhance the current level of quality of cancer care, for example by improving information access, informing and sharing clinical decision making with patients, and facilitating communication and support for coliving with the illness
A fundamental requirement for the effectiveness of any eHealth intervention, including interventions addressed to patients with cancer and survivors, is a certain level of engagement by the patient [11], who is the main beneficiary of the intervention [12]
Formulating a concrete definition of patient engagement in the context of eHealth is a challenge by itself [14], as there is a lack of consensus on what the term engagement entails and because different fields conceptualize it differently

Summary

Introduction

The status of the data-driven management of cancer care as well as the challenges, opportunities, and recommendations aimed at accelerating the rate of progress in this field are topics of great interest. The morbidity and mortality associated with cancer are rapidly increasing globally because of population growth and aging, reflecting the changes in the prevalence and distribution of major risk factors of cancer [1] These global trends have resulted in more people living with or beyond cancer. Often enabled by the availability of big data and advanced analytics, have demonstrated the potential to enhance the current level of quality of cancer care, for example by improving information access, informing and sharing clinical decision making with patients, and facilitating communication and support for coliving with the illness. There is an emphasis on the early evaluation of technology by including key stakeholders throughout the design and development phases (sometimes referred to as a cocreation process)

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