A framework for visualizing and identifying clinical trial options for liver disease

For patients with diseases that have failed current treatment, many treatments are currently in clinical trials that may improve chances for survival. The NIH currently posts information for these clinical trials on clinicaltrials.gov, however patients can often find it difficult to understand their best options for enrolling in a trial given the large number of clinical trials and unstandardized format and language of information on the site. A current search of enrolling hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) trials in the US returns a search of 158 eligible trials. However, a patient with late-stage HCC who has hepatitis C and have failed chemotherapy within 6 years would only be eligible for a fraction of these trials. The complexity of patient inclusion and exclusion criteria, enrollment status, disease, and location can act as a barrier to clinical trial enrollment for both patients and sponsors of clinical trials.

This repository is a framework for a clinical trial recommender that will help patients and providers understand their best options for participation in relevant and open clinical trials. This project will focus on trials in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).