The PRO-CAR-T Study has received permission to use anonymous medical data and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve care for people receiving CAR-T therapy — a powerful new treatment offering hope to those with blood cancer.
What is the study about?
The study is building a digital system that helps patients and their healthcare teams keep track of health and symptoms after CAR-T therapy. Patients will be able to report how they feel through an app on their phone, tablet, or computer. CAR-T treatment can sometimes lead to serious side effects, so catching symptoms early is crucial.
A new way to keep patients safe
This is the first time a system like this has been created for CAR-T therapy. After listening to patients, families, and health workers, researchers are also developing an alert system that notifies doctors if someone reports symptoms that need fast attention.
How will AI help?
AI will look at patterns across thousands of patient records to help predict which symptoms could signal serious health issues. By combining this with other medical information, the system aims to spot when someone might need urgent care - especially after they’ve left hospital. To do all this, researchers applied to use anonymised clinical data stored securely by University Hospital Birmingham.
Public support makes a difference
The application was supported by patients and members of the public, who helped shape the project, wrote a powerful letter of support and easy-to-read summary. Thanks to their efforts, the West Midlands Data Trust Committee gave its full approval, praising the project for its clear focus and strong public involvement.
“Committee members commented that the application was very well executed especially around the clear lay summary and involvement of patients and the public and they felt it was very important project.”
Huge thanks to everyone involved — this is a great example of how researchers, patients, and the public are working together to improve healthcare.