Tumor Imaging Metrics
The Tumor Imaging Metrics Core (TIMC) is a multi-institutional, multidisciplinary service whose mission is to support timely, reliable imaging assessments and workflow for DF/HCC clinical research investigators and patients enrolled in oncologic clinical trials evaluating novel cancer therapies.
TIMC strives to facilitate the conduct of these clinical trials by improving the quality and efficiency of tumor imaging assessments, providing compliant results for assisting with trial eligibility and treatment decisions, and streamlining audits and communication between study teams and imaging experts.
TIMC provides centralized, standardized, accurate, consistent, and timely longitudinal, multimodality anatomic, volumetric and functional tumor metrics including CT, MR, PET/CT and other nuclear medicine imaging studies to evaluate therapeutic response for patients enrolled in DF/HCC oncologic clinical trials. TIMC supports more than 30 tumor response assessment criteria including but not limited to RECIST 1.1, iRECIST, Lugano, LYRIC, IWCLL and RANO. Results of tumor metric analyses are offered on a password-protected secure web-based report. The TIMC platform also facilitates efficient internal and/or external auditing.
Key Services
- Consultation services for image-based protocol and image analysis design
- Image capture and management of multimodality scans from all DF/HCC institutions
- Tumor metrics performed on CT, MR, PET/CT and other nuclear medicine scans from patients enrolled in clinical trials according to trial-specific
- Timely web-based reporting of results with annotated images, graphs, and results summary
- Database management of radiological data for clinical trials
Providing High-Quality Services
The primary focus of the TIMC is to provide high-quality tumor metrics imaging services for oncology clinical trials at DF/HCC and beyond. For more than two decades, the TIMC has been a pioneering shared resource for clinical trials imaging assessments. We currently:
- Process over 12,000 scans per year
- Manage measurements for over 2,100 active clinical trials
- Provide services to 13 institutions
TIMC data and image management has also evolved over the years as the Core’s service and expertise grew. The TIMC utilizes an innovative informatics platform, developed by TIMC and exclusively licensed in 2022 to Yunu, Inc. (www.yunu.io), to manage the workflow, compliance, imaging assessments, reporting, billing, communication, and audit trails of its tumor metrics services.
The TIMC team also strives to stay at the forefront of clinical research trends and clinical trial needs. The Core directors, image analysts, and support staff engage in and study new assessment criteria as they are developed and implemented, contribute to the literature, and participate in various national and international scientific meetings.
Sharing our Experience
Beyond DF/HCC, TIMC currently collaborates with many other cancer centers around the U.S. in an effort to share experience, knowledge and workflow. Our web-based imaging informatics and workflow management platform, developed through TIMC and licensed to Yunu in 2022, is now used by 12 NCI-designated Cancer Centers. By making this platform available to other institutions, the Core provides analysis tools and support to collaborating sites, which helps create a trans-cancer center clinical trials imaging research community.
PUBLICATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
If research supported by this core facility results in publication, please acknowledge this support by including the following in your publication(s):
"We thank Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in Boston, MA, for the use of the Tumor Imaging Metrics Core, which provided __________ service. Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center is supported in part by an NCI Cancer Center Support Grant # NIH 5 P30 CA06516."
Location
The Tumor Imaging Metrics Core (TIMC) maintains laboratory space at:
Massachusetts General Hospital, 3D Imaging Service
125 Nashua Street, Suite 260
Boston, MA 02114
Contact:
Collaborate - Tumor Imaging Metrics Core (tumormetrics.org)