BTG (LON:BTG) touted data last week from a pilot study of its digital patient engagement platform IO Loop in patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing treatment with the company’s TheraSphere transarterial radioembolization therapy.
The study found that patients experienced sustained quality of life up to 3 months after treatment. The company touted the study of its novel data collection tool as “the first-of-its-kind” in interventional oncology.
BTG used the IO Loop service to enroll 41 patients and follow them through their TheraSphere treatment – 21 days before treatment until 90 days after treatment. Patients were surveyed at baseline, 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks post-treatment.
The data showed stable quality of life and low side-effect concerns for TheraSphere.
“From these results we confirm several observations. First, the IO Loop service provides a powerful digital tool that delivers on several counts, bringing considerable benefits to patients and clinicians. Second, TheraSphere, a treatment for HCC that can be done as an outpatient procedure, is very well tolerated,” lead author Dr. Riad Salem said in prepared remarks. “Third, quality of life is maintained after TheraSphere, an outcome in cancer therapy that is extremely important when patients are ultimately selecting a treatment. Finally, relevant just-in-time information can be relayed from patients to physicians in a timely manner, with outcomes immediately accessible for patient and providers. Using this form of two way communication improves patient care, quality, and overall satisfaction.”
The company’s IO Loop service is designed to keep physicians and patients connected during treatment, according to BTG. The platform allows patients to track and report symptoms, as well as prepare for treatment.
“This study shows that digital patient engagement platforms, delivered via services such as IO Loop, can educate and empower patients by automatically providing daily patient check-ins, education and guidance tools and answers to common questions. By providing patients with relevant information at the right time, IO Loop helps to make sure clinician-patient interactions are as valuable and productive as possible,” co-author Dr. Edward Kim said.
“Traditionally, we have only learned from patients about their quality of life after treatment by asking questions at just 1 or 2 time points.” HealthLoop chief medical information officer Dr. Ben Rosner added. “However, with the right tools, patients are very willing to engage with their physicians and share information about their quality of life at frequent intervals, enabling us to learn about the near-term tolerability of treatments in real-time, in ways we have never before been able to do.”
“IO Loop offers patients and their clinicians a service that brings them closer together and utilizes the power of this collaboration to support better clinical and health-related outcomes. This study demonstrates that using IO Loop to capture PROs after treatment with TheraSphere can help clinicians efficiently report patient experience, a particularly important need given reimbursement requirements,” BTG’s VP of global market access, Lisa Hayden, said. “IO Loop is a significant next step in turning patient engagement into a powerful treatment tool.”
