Roche innovations in the use of health data

If we understand the uniqueness of each person in terms of genetics, environmental factors and lifestyle, the focus of healthcare shifts: We cease treating individual diseases, but offer each person optimal care at every stage of life. This is the concept of personalized medicine.

Today we are at a turning point: this concept can become reality. Thanks to advances in research, analytical methods, data processing and digital technologies, we understand better than ever which factors influence a person’s state of health. With this knowledge, we can improve every phase of medical care – from maintaining health, early detection of disease and timely administration of the right medication to real-time monitoring of disease progression and treatment outcomes. The result: better treatments, more effective prevention and, at the same time, lower costs because people stay healthy longer and healthcare resources can be used more effectively and efficiently.

In order to make the concept of personalized medicine a reality, so-called real-world data or health data is becoming increasingly important. This is largely information from everyday healthcare, such as information about diagnoses, treatments, medications, laboratory results and other clinical measures that are recorded during normal visits to the doctor. But also data from fitness trackers, the cancer registry, patient dossiers, insurance claims and so on. This information helps doctors across different specialist disciplines define the optimal therapy for each individual patient.

Roche is strongly committed to oncology with the aim of improving the lives of people with cancer. For over fifty years, innovative medicines and diagnostic tools have been developed to help in the prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of cancer. The focus is on a better understanding of the disease and personalized healthcare. 

Roche has initiated several projects that focus on the research and use of health data in connection with cancer. One key project is the Precision Oncology Program (POP), which is being conducted in collaboration with the University Hospital Zurich and the University of Zurich. The aim of this program is to find out how oncology patients in Switzerland can benefit from personalized data sets through the sharing and integration of health data in clinical practice. This collaboration will provide access to high-quality resources and expertise, which will drive the development and adoption of personalized treatments. The program is based on the idea that every cancer case is unique and therefore requires a tailored treatment that is adapted to the tumor.

The PrOSPECT (Precision Oncology Screening Platform Enabling Clinical Trials) platform was developed in partnership with the Australian government and other organizations. The platform facilitates access to data from clinical trials that deal with the genomic profiling of tumors – how a tumor can be analyzed to detect genetic mutations and changes that could be responsible for the development and growth of the cancer. Thanks to this platform, patients with advanced forms of cancer can gain early access to targeted therapies. 

The Tumor Profiler Project, which is being carried out in collaboration with the Swiss Personalized Oncology (SPO) National Data Stream, aims to develop tailored therapies based on detailed information about tumors. The comprehensive analysis of DNA, RNA and proteins makes it possible to understand the cellular diversity within the tumor and to formulate individual treatment approaches that are tailored to the specific tumor biology of patients. The findings are made available to treating physicians and discussed in interdisciplinary tumor boards, where they help to determine the most effective treatment strategy for each person individually. The project shows that this data is of great benefit for use in hospitals. In addition, it is being investigated whether patients can benefit from drugs that are not part of the standard treatment for the respective type of cancer but arefor other types of cancer.

Roche is also working intensively on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve data analysis and accelerate development processes in oncology. AI methods support the analysis of complex data structures and promote a deeper understanding of disease dynamics, which contributes to the optimization of treatment strategies.

Roche implements strict data protection measures to ensure the protection of patient data through the use of advanced encryption technologies and secure data management systems. This includes the use of end-to-end encryption and regular security audits to ensure data integrity. Roche also implements specific access controls and data sharing protocols to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to sensitive information.

The use of health data offers numerous advantages for physicians in both treatment and research: The data enables a realistic assessment of the effectiveness and safety of treatments thanks to large-scale evaluations. This not only improves the quality of medical decisions but also patient safety, as it is possible to react more quickly to changes in a patient’s condition. In addition, health data supports the development of new treatment guidelines and medical standards based on broad and diverse patient data. You can find more on this topic

The future of oncology looks promising thanks to a variety of innovations in the use of health data. The use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze health data can pave the way for new discoveries in cancer treatment. Roche is actively involved in these developments – because we want to continue to play a key role in improving the lives of cancer patients in the future.