OnCo
technologiesTechnologyEstablished

Decentralised and hybrid clinical trials

Running parts of a trial at home or locally, with telehealth, home nursing, and remote monitoring, so patients far from big centres can take part.

Accelerated by the pandemic and FDA guidance (2023-24), decentralised elements include telehealth visits, home infusion or blood draws, local imaging and labs, direct-to-patient drug shipping, and wearables. Vendors: Science 37 (acquired by eMed 2024), Medable, THREAD, Lightship, Walgreens/CVS trial services (partly wound down). Oncology adoption lags other areas because of IV drugs and imaging, but hybrid designs (local labs, remote consent) are common.

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How it works

Decentralised trials combine remote consent and data capture, mobile nursing networks, and local investigator sites coordinated through a central protocol.

Strengths
  • Access and diversity
  • Retention
Limitations
  • IV regimens and imaging need sites
  • Data quality and oversight
  • Vendor consolidation

Key papers

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meta analysisJNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2019
Unger: most patients never get the chance to join a cancer trial, and when offered, half say yes

Patients are not the bottleneck; trial access is. Bringing trials to community practices, loosening restrictive eligibility criteria and reducing site burden would do more for enrolment than patient education. Trials today reflect the minority of patients who happen to be treated where trials exist.

Latest papers

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Latest papers · live from Europe PMC
Open in Europe PMC

Query for this technology: (TITLE:"Decentralised and hybrid clinical trials" OR ABSTRACT:"Decentralised and hybrid clinical trials") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about Decentralised and hybrid clinical trials, not a curated reading list.

Connected

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Pages like this

not linked directly; found by shared links

fronts

2
AI & ComputationSupportive Care & Survivorship

technologies

3
Clinical trial software (EDC, eCOA, CTMS, RTSM)Electronic patient-reported outcomes and remote monitoringTelemedicine, teleoncology, and telepathology

companies

2
MedableScience 37 (eMed)

terms

1
Accrual and enrolment

key papers

1
Unger: most patients never get the chance to join a cancer trial, and when offered, half say yes