Johannes Schwenke

This is a trial using routinely collected health care data from an ongoing registry (AO_2023- 00091) in cancer patients with advanced solid malignancies receiving first line systemic anti- cancer treatment for advanced disease.

This trial will assess the feasibility and implementation of routine measurement of ctDNA and its association with clinical outcomes, including quality of life and survival. All patients will receive routine diagnostics, treatment and follow-up. All patients with a new cancer diagnosis will be assessed for eligibility based on the routinely collected information available in the registry. We will then randomly decide which eligible patients are invited to participate in the trial. If patients accept the invitation and intend to get a measurement of ctDNA, they have to provide written informed consent.

The feasibility target sample size is 150 patients who accepted the invitation. We have chosen to randomly invite patients to participate, because: first, current capacities are not sufficient to offer regular ctDNA measurement to all cancer patients; second, we aim to recruit an unbiased and representative sample of patients; third, we aim to conduct comparative analyses with high internal and external validity so that our results are directly and reliably transferable to a large group of future cancer patients. 

In May 2022, a major global outbreak of mpox (Clade IIb) began in Europe and quickly spread worldwide. While cases outside Africa dropped by the end of summer 2022, they continue to be reported globally, illustrating continuing transmission of mpox across the world. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and nearby countries are also seeing high numbers of cases, along with a new clade of the virus. This led the WHO to re-declare mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in August 2024.

Ongoing surveillance is essential, as the risk of new outbreaks remains. Understanding the disease better will help improve treatment and prevent another global health crisis.

MPX-RESPONSE aims to increase the knowledge of mpox, to evaluate potential treatments, and to strengthen Europe’s global preparedness for emerging infectious disease outbreaks.

MPX-RESPONSE constitutes of a large pan-European Mpox cohort study (MOSAIC) and several global platform trials.