UNIverse - Public Research Portal

Improve Oncology

As a practicing oncologist with training in data analytics, my research is primarily focused on advancing oncology through multiple key areas. These include clinical lymphoma research, specifically targeting CNS lymphoma, as well as the design and implementation of pragmatic clinical trials in oncology. I am deeply invested in leveraging data analytics to enhance research outcomes and optimize treatment strategies. Additionally, I am committed to the development and utilization of modern clinical trial designs and the integration of learning health systems in oncology to continually improve patient care and treatment protocols.

Selected Projects & Collaborations

Implementation of liquid biopsies during routine clinical care in patients with advanced malignancies (LIQPLAT)

Research Project | 10 Project Members

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.

LIBERTY: Liquid Biopsy to Diagnose and Monitor CNS Involvement in High-risk B Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (SAKK 38/23)

Research Project | 3 Project Members

Prevention and treatment of CNS relapse remains a great unmet clinical need in the management of aggressive B-NHL. Hence, investigating novel diagnostic tests is of paramount importance to improve risk-stratification of lymphoma patients at diagnosis, as is the evaluation of novel therapeutic approaches that may prevent and / or treat CNS recurrence. Based on the highlighted evidence, the investigators hypothesize that ctDNA detected within the CSF could potentially improve the detection rate of CNS involvement and consequently improve patients' stratification and better discriminate those in need of consolidative CNS prophylaxis on a molecular basis. Similarly, the investigators postulate that CSF ctDNA could be used as a monitoring tool to assess treatment response and guide therapeutic management.