Medidata, a global provider of cloud-based solutions for clinical research in life sciences, is collaborating with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) to expand the use of mobile health (mHealth) technology in oncology treatment.

Through the collaboration, Medidata and MSK will assess the viability of deploying wearable sensors and mobile technology to evaluate quality of life during cancer treatment. MSK will use activity trackers, mobile apps and Medidata’s cloud technology platform to study patterns of movement in patients being treated for multiple myeloma.

“In the wake of the president’s Cancer Moonshot, there is a renewed urgency to combine the best science with the best technology to deliver better treatments faster,” said Medidata’s President Glen de Vries. “Success in cancer treatment is measured not just by what it does to the disease but what it does to the patient’s body and mind. Our collaboration with MSK will bring to bear the very best technology and data analytics to help researchers identify multiple myeloma treatments that best enhance quality as well as quantity of life.”

Multiple myeloma patients receiving induction chemotherapy will have the opportunity to be part of the collaborative project. In addition to being able to report quality-of-life measures such as activity level, fatigue and appetite through Medidata’s Patient Cloud ePRO app on their personal smart phones, patients will also be outfitted with a fitness tracker, which will produce continuous data that MSK researchers will gather and analyze using Medidata’s cloud-based SensorLink solution. This platform will aggregate and process data in real time throughout the trial, providing insight into patterns of movement and quality of sleep.

Patients will be asked to wear the activity tracker one to seven days prior to treatment to establish a baseline, then continuously for approximately four months over four cycles of the prescribed therapy. Over the course of the treatment, MSK researchers will use Medidata’s visualization and analytics dashboard to assess patient compliance and data quality, and to identify trends and outliers.

“All cancer patients face health challenges from the disease as well as the side effects of treatment. But the challenges are particularly acute for those who suffer from multiple myeloma, a painful blood cancer that affects the bones,” said Dr. Neha Korde, assistant attending for the Myeloma Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering. “We will be able to use mHealth technologies to gauge how patients sleep, how they move, and how they feel with greater precision.”