Digital Biomarkers in Cancer Research

Digital health technologies including wearable sensors can play a critical role in improving clinical trials and care in cancer. I am thrilled to share with you two groundbreaking papers authored by our collaborators at Baylor College of Medicine, Bijan Najafi, PhD and Yvonne Sada, MD. These papers delve into the utilization of precision actigraphy to monitor cancer fatigue and forecast resilience to chemotherapy among cancer patients.

The first paper, published in PLOS ONE, outlines the application of PAMSys^TM in tracking cancer-related fatigue. The research shows that employing sensor-based monitoring of mobility performance could serve as a promising digital indicator of cancer-related fatigue.

PLOS ONE : Harnessing digital health to objectively assess cancer-related fatigue: The impact of fatigue on mobility performance

The second paper, published in Nature Scientific Reports, illustrates how monitoring daily physical activity over a span of 14 days with PAMSys^TM facilitates the early identification of cancer patients with diminished resilience to chemotherapy. This information can significantly enhance personalized decision-making for subsequent chemotherapy cycles, potentially guiding oncologists to adjust treatment strategies.

NATURE SCIENTIFIC REPORTS : Harnessing physical activity monitoring and digital biomarkers of frailty from pendant based wearables to predict chemotherapy resilience in veterans with cancer

PAMSys^TM  is a clinical-grade wearable sensor for continuous at-home monitoring of physical activity, sleep, posture, gait parameters, and falls. With its extensive application, PAMSys™ has been utilized in over 100 clinical trials and studies, serving as a tool for collecting primary or secondary endpoints in more than 10 trials.