Pancreatic Cancer Action Network's SPARK: A Cloud-Based Patient Health Data and Analytics Platform for Pancreatic...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Bioinformatics
• Data Science

Background:

• Pancreatic cancer is the third deadliest cancer in the U.S. with a low 5-year survival rate of 12%.
• Understanding the clinical and molecular factors of pancreatic cancer is crucial for developing early detection and improved therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network's (PanCAN's) SPARK platform, a cloud-based data and analytics resource.
• To accelerate pancreatic cancer research by improving access to real-world patient data and analysis tools.

Main Methods:

• The SPARK platform integrates diverse data types including clinical, molecular, multiomic, imaging, and patient-reported outcomes.
• It is built on a cloud infrastructure utilizing Velsera ARIA for cohort exploration and clinicogenomic data analysis.
• The platform incorporates data science capabilities for various levels of research analysis.

Main Results:

• Version 1 of the SPARK platform was released to pilot users, including molecular biologists, clinicians, and bioinformaticians.
• The pilot release includes deidentified data for over 600 patients from PanCAN's Know Your Tumor service.
• Data includes clinical information, molecular and multiomic profiles, and whole-slide pathology images.

Conclusions:

• The SPARK platform provides qualified researchers with centralized access to PanCAN's real-world patient data.
• It offers valuable analytical resources to advance pancreatic cancer research efforts.