Friends of Cancer Research and MMS Join Forces to Refine Oncology Trial Decision-Making
Friends of Cancer Research has announced a landmark collaboration with global clinical research organisation MMS to advance how interim survival data in oncology trials is interpreted.
The initiative, centred on developing new decision frameworks, could accelerate access to life-extending cancer therapies by helping researchers, developers and regulators make clearer sense of early signals in trial results.
The Challenge of Measuring Survival
Overall survival (OS) – the time from treatment initiation to end of life – is widely regarded as the gold standard for assessing whether a cancer therapy truly extends life. Yet, collecting complete OS data takes time, often longer than the point at which critical regulatory or clinical decisions must be made.
In the interim, developers frequently rely on surrogate measures such as progression-free survival or objective response rate. While useful, these indicators do not always reflect the long-term benefits or delayed effects of new treatments, leaving a gap in decision-making.
A New Framework for Interim Data
The new partnership aims to fill this gap by building structured decision frameworks that account for real-world complexities, including crossover effects and delayed treatment benefits.
By modelling such scenarios, the initiative seeks to provide a more reliable way of interpreting incomplete OS data, ensuring that promising therapies are neither dismissed prematurely nor advanced without sufficient justification.
MMS and the Power of Simulation
MMS will lead the simulation efforts through its advanced KerusCloud platform, a tool designed to enable realistic modelling of oncology endpoints. This technology allows researchers to explore various decision thresholds in detail, simulating how different trial designs and survival outcomes might play out over time.
The ability to test these “what if” scenarios in a controlled virtual environment is expected to enhance the robustness of decisions made at interim stages.
Voices from the Collaboration
The president and CEO of Friends of Cancer Research welcomed the initiative as a crucial step in accelerating patient access to innovative therapies.
They expressed that as timely access to innovative cancer therapies remains a key factor for patients, this initiative represents an important step toward optimal acceleration, adding that MMS brings a unique blend of statistical expertise, practical oncology trial experience and state-of-the-art simulation tools.
Toward Faster, Smarter Cancer Drug Development
The collaboration is anticipated to deliver meaningful benefits across the cancer research ecosystem. By helping regulators, developers and researchers interpret early survival signals more consistently, the project could support faster, more informed decision-making.
This in turn has the potential to shorten the time between breakthrough science and patient access.
Conclusion
The partnership between Friends of Cancer Research and MMS highlights the evolving role of data science and simulation in modern oncology. By addressing the longstanding challenge of incomplete survival data, the initiative sets out to create a clearer, more reliable pathway for evaluating new treatments.
Ultimately, the goal is simple but profound: ensuring that patients gain timely access to therapies that can make a genuine difference to their lives.
News Credits: Friends of Cancer Research and MMS partner to improve interpretation of cancer trial survival data
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