Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35725736›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2022

Automated gathering of real-world data from online patient forums can complement pharmacovigilance for rare cancers.

Anne Dirkson, Suzan Verberne, Wessel Kraaij, Gerard van Oortmerssen, Hans Gelderblom

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Anne DirksonLIACS, Leiden University, Niels Bohrweg 1, 2333 CA, Leiden, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-4332-0296
Suzan VerberneLIACS, Leiden University, Niels Bohrweg 1, 2333 CA, Leiden, The Netherlands. s.verberne@liacs.leidenuniv.nl.ORCID 0000-0002-9609-9505
Wessel KraaijLIACS, Leiden University, Niels Bohrweg 1, 2333 CA, Leiden, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-7797-619X
Gerard van OortmerssenLIACS, Leiden University, Niels Bohrweg 1, 2333 CA, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Hans GelderblomDepartment of Medical Oncology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-9270-8636
Leiden University · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Current methods of pharmacovigilance result in severe under-reporting of adverse drug events (ADEs). Patient forums have the potential to complement current pharmacovigilance practices by providing real-time uncensored and unsolicited information. We are the first to explore the value of patient forums for rare cancers. To this end, we conduct a case study on a patient forum for Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor patients. We have developed machine learning algorithms to automatically extract and aggregate side effects from messages on open online discussion forums. We show that patient forum data can provide suggestions for which ADEs impact quality of life the most: For many side effects the relative reporting rate differs decidedly from that of the registration trials, including for example cognitive impairment and alopecia as side effects of avapritinib. We also show that our methods can provide real-world data for long-term ADEs, such as osteoporosis and tremors for imatinib, and novel ADEs not found in registration trials, such as dry eyes and muscle cramping for imatinib. We thus posit that automated pharmacovigilance from patient forums can provide real-world data for ADEs and should be employed as input for medical hypotheses for rare cancers.

Indexed as

Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse ReactionsNeoplasmsHumansImatinib MesylatePharmacovigilanceQuality of LifeImatinib Mesylate

Identifiers

PMID35725736
PMCPMC9209513
OpenAlexW4283160863

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.