Tracy E. Crane, Ph.D., RDN, director of lifestyle medicine and digital health in cancer survivorship at Sylvester, is among the principal investigators of the new $3.5 million, five-year National Institutes of Health grant “Managing symptoms and psychological distress during oral anti-cancer treatment.” She will be collaborating with fellow principal investigators Alla Sikorskii, Ph.D., at Michigan State University, and Terry Badger, Ph.D., from the University of Arizona. 

The research project grant (called an R01) is through NRG Oncology, a part of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Community Oncology Research Program that focuses on moving cancer research from cancer centers to the community. That’s important because the community is where the bulk of today’s cancer care happens, according to Dr. Crane, who is also co-leader of the Sylvester Cancer Control Research Program. 

“More and more of the care provided by the nation’s cancer centers is moving into the home. For example, in this study, patients are taking their chemotherapy drugs orally rather than intravenously in the hospital. We’re looking at managing anticancer therapy-related toxicities in the home, using a technology we developed at Sylvester,” Dr. Crane said. The research will delve into how to use technology to provide quality health care in the home.

Sylvester researchers will deliver the grant’s digital intervention, an automated, interactive voice response system that is part of the University of Miami’s proprietary software platform, My Wellness Research. My Wellness Research is a research management and communication platform that incorporates data from wearable devices and leverages machine learning to gain insights and improve patient care. The interactive voice response system is one feature of this platform, available in both English and Spanish, which calls patients weekly, asking about potential physical symptoms from anticancer therapy, as well as psychosocial concerns like anxiety and depression.

“Sylvester’s technology also integrates with NRG Oncology and NCI’s data system, so if we find that this intervention works, cancer centers could use it to manage cancer patients nationwide,” Dr. Crane said. The study will also examine efficiency in clinical care, “A technology that helps them manage potential toxicities in the community setting while providing quality care could make a huge difference,” Dr. Crane said.