MD Anderson, Philips Partner on Personalized Oncology Treatments, Clinical Trial Matching

Philips and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today announced a collaboration to provide oncologists with evidence-based therapy and clinical trial guidance through Philips’ oncology informatics solutions and MD Anderson’s Precision Oncology Decision Support (PODS) system. This collaboration will allow physicians around the world to personalize therapy based on the patient’s genomic profile, with the aim of improving patient care.

Helping Pathologists & Oncologists Support Clinical Decision-Making

Today, pathologists and oncologists are faced with the challenges of keeping abreast of the increasing number of therapy options and the rapid advances in genomic testing, the molecular findings of which require increasingly specialized expertise to interpret. The growing amount of evidence for newly approved targeted and immune-oncology therapies necessitates solutions to simplify the complexity. Philips and MD Anderson aim to help pathologists and oncologists serve their patients and provide them with therapeutic options and relevant clinical trials based on tumor markers.

MD Anderson’s Precision Oncology Decision Support (PODS) System

MD Anderson developed the PODS system as an evidence-based tool to facilitate therapeutic decision-making at the point of care. The system provides actionable clinical information, including approved therapies and available clinical trials, based upon genetic alterations within the tumor. Through the Philips solutions, clinicians receive a unified view of therapies and clinical trials in the context of their patient’s unique tumor, helping them make an evidence-based decision for their patient’s treatment.

“We developed PODS to enable physicians to better understand and act on genetic variations within each patient’s tumor, making it easier to provide the best treatments possible,” said Funda Meric-Bernstam, M.D., chair of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics at MD Anderson. “Through our collaboration with Philips, we hope to share our clinical experience with physicians around the world and contribute to improving care for patients globally.”