RELEVIUM

Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate amongst other cancers and is responsible for 95,000 deaths every year in the EU. Its treatment is usually palliative, aiming at slowing tumour progression and at symptom management. The main hypothesis of RELEVIUM is that quality of life (QoL) of advanced pancreatic cancer patients can be significantly improved by reducing pain and cachexia through highly personalised nutrition, physical activity, and pain management strategies, in addition to chemotherapy treatment. To achieve this, RELEVIUM will empower patients with digital tools that facilitate patient-doctor communication and enable them to self-manage their disease. RELEVIUM will use (i) a multi-sensor smartwatch and an innovative remote ultrasound patch, (ii) AI algorithms for continuous remote monitoring of pain and sarcopenia, as well as for decision support, and (iii) patient and caregiver applications. Combined, these tools will provide a stream of evidence on symptom progression and will enable physicians to apply personalised care plans. RELEVIUM brings together an interdisciplinary team of experts and will also involve patients and their caregivers in an iterative co-creation process.

The project will initially conduct a feasibility and data collection study (RELEVIUM-FDC, n=130). The study aims at optimizing patient adherence and compliance, and at collecting data for the development of the intervention. A five-centre randomized clinical trial (RELEVIUM-RCT) will then evaluate the efficacy of the proposed personalised care plans for advanced pancreatic cancer patients (n=132) in terms of their QoL. Several secondary outcomes will be investigated, such as the cost-effectiveness of the intervention, its potential in increasing health equity and in relieving the stress burden on the patient families. The study outcomes will result in recommendations for integrating remote monitoring and improving QoL outcomes in palliative care for advanced pancreatic cancer.

Consortium

Universitaetsmedizin der Johannes Gutenberg-Universitaet Mainz, UMC-Mainz, Germany
Johannes Gutenberg-Universitaet Mainz JGU, Germany
Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, CERTH, Greece
Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. FhG, Germany
Harokopio University, HUA, Greece
EXUS AI Labs, EXUS, United Kingdom
Ainigma Technologies, AIN, Belgium
MCS Datalabs, MCS, Germany
Futuro perfecto, FPI, Spain
European Cancer Patient Coallition, ECPC, Belgium
Institut Curie, CURIE, France
Rambam Health Care Campus, RAMBAM, Israel
Oncology and Haematology Clinic, North Estonia Medical Centre, NEMC, Estonia
The Institut Bordet Medical Oncology Clinic, BORDET, Belgium
DBC Europe, DBC, Belgium
Pulsify Medical, PULSIFY, Belgium
CSI Center for Social Innovation LTD, CSI, Belgium
Rosenbaum Consulting LTD, ROSENBAUM, Bulgaria