Aussie-first digital tool exposes toxicity linked to modern cancer drugs

An Australian-first digital system is set to transform how clinicians identify cancer patients who develop immune-related colitis, a frequent and potentially severe complication of immunotherapy drugs.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors, including BMS’ Opdivo (nivolumab) and Yervoy (ipilimumab), Roche’s Tecentriq (atezolizumab), and AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi (durvalumab), have become a cornerstone of cancer treatment across a range of malignancies such as melanoma and non–small cell lung cancer. However, their immune-activating mechanism can also lead to significant toxicities, including immune-related colitis, an inflammatory condition of the bowel that can affect up to half of treated patients.

Until now, detecting cases of immune-related colitis has largely depended on manual review of clinical records, a process described as both time-consuming and resource intensive.

Lead Health Services Researcher, Infectious Diseases Physician and PhD fellow with the National Centre for Infections in Cancer (NCIC) at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Dr Jasmine Teng, said the new approach replaces this traditional method with automation supported by clinical validation.

“To alleviate this issue, we developed a clinician-verified ‘digital phenotype’ – a reproducible computer algorithm using existing Electronic Medical Record (EMR) data – to assist with automatically identifying affected patients with high accuracy,” she said. “If we can identify the biomarkers that predict who will develop immune-related colitis, we can work with patients and their treating teams to tailor their immunotherapy regimen or improve early management of this side effect.

Developed jointly by the Centre of Health Services Research in Cancer (CHSRC), NCIC, and clinical teams at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the digital phenotype represents the first validated tool of its kind for cancer populations in Australia.

“Understanding which patients experience immune-related colitis more efficiently and at scale opens the door to other research initiatives and clinical insights that simply weren’t possible before,” explained said Dr Teng. “This work will help clinicians better understand the true incidence of immune-related colitis and build towards comprehending the complex care pathways in severe cases of immune-related colitis, and implications of immune checkpoint inhibitor re-treatment.”.

Beyond improving post-treatment detection, the research carries broader implications for precision oncology. By enabling the rapid assembly of large, clinically detailed cohorts from EMRs, the system creates a foundation for future biomarker discovery aimed at predicting which patients are at highest risk of developing immune-related colitis.

In reimagining healthcare across the entire patient journey, Health Industry Hub^TM is the only one-stop-hub uniting the diversity of the Pharma, MedTech, Diagnostics & Biotech sectors to inspire meaningful change.

The Health Industry Hub^TM content is copyright protected. Access is available under individual user licenses. Please click here to subscribe and visit T&Cs here.