PATIENT participation in clinical trials for blood disorders is hoped to increase by 25 per cent following the release of a free smartphone application co-developed by haematologists and clinical trial teams at St George Hospital.
The ClinTrials Refer app will allow patients to search a database of more than 70 clinical trials taking place in NSW.
Every trial unit in NSW (18) is connected to the database, which is updated monthly.
Clinical trials unit manager Roslyn Ristuccia said the app had the support of organisations such as Cancer Voices and Lymphoma Australia.
"One of the things is haematology has rare disorders and we cannot run the trials at every site so what we need to do is to work with each other's teams," Mrs Ristuccia said.
"We had an idea that if we told the haematologists where the trails were, and who was running them, then we'd be able to broaden access for patients."
The app was developed with Concord Hospital.
Its director of clinical research, Associate Professor Judith Trotman, said the app would ultimately help clinicians and researchers get closer to breakthrough treatments for blood cancers such as leukaemia and lymphoma.
— Deborah Field
