ARCAD-Asia initiative: leveraging yesterday's data for tomorrow

In clinical oncology, it is widely recognized that data sharing and the integration of completed clinical trials can promote research and development (R&D). The Foundation Aide et Recherche en Cancérologie Digestive (ARCAD) database project was initiated in Europe and the United States in 2006. Approximately 40 000 individual patient data (IPD) for metastatic colorectal cancer were collected and constructed as an integrated database.

ARCAD-Asia was launched in 2021 and has been actively collecting Asian clinical trials. In addition, ARCAD-Asian data were periodically transferred to the Mayo Clinic, and IPD was integrated into the ARCAD database. Finally, all data were shared with three data centers, ARCAD-Asia and ARCAD, located in Europe, the United States, and Japan. We have developed a reproducible and reliable data conversion procedure based on the methodology established by ARCAD.

From September 2021 to April 2023, 2318 IPD from four first-line, two second-line, and three third-line trials for metastatic colorectal cancer were integrated and stored in ARCAD-Asia. By autumn 2023, three more trials (1565 IPD) will be included, resulting in 12 trials (3883 IPD) in the Asia database. These are transferred and shared with ARCAD. After integrating Asian data, the ARCAD database contained 70 trials with ∼50 000 IPD.

Based on our active collaboration, ARCAD-Asia was established, and a global integrated database was constructed. As a next step, we will continue to collect Asian IPD and expand the cancer types, leading to a more comprehensive and available global database.