Mayo Clinic wants to make cancer research faster. The medical giant just added new features to its Platform_Orchestrate system that let researchers quickly access standardized cancer data from Mayo Clinic and partner hospitals.
The goal is simple: give scientists better data tools so they can develop new cancer treatments more quickly. Right now, creating new cancer therapies takes many years. Mayo Clinic thinks better data access can shorten that timeline.
How does it work?
The platform now uses something called OMOP Oncology – a standard way to organize complex cancer information. Think of it as a universal filing system that makes messy medical data clean and searchable.
This system takes both structured data like lab results and unstructured information like radiology reports, then presents everything in a consistent format. Researchers get standardized details about tumor characteristics, treatments, patient outcomes, and disease progression – all ready for analysis.
The platform also removes patient identifying information to protect privacy. Later this year, Mayo Clinic will add tokenization technology that connects anonymous patient data across their entire care journey, giving researchers a complete picture of treatment patterns.
Why does it matter?
Cancer research moves slowly partly because data is scattered and inconsistent across different hospitals and systems. When researchers can’t easily compare information, studies take longer and cost more.
“The integration of OMOP Oncology into Mayo Clinic Platform has the power to accelerate discovery, improve clinical trial design, and support the development of next-generation therapies for patients worldwide,” said Elisabeth Heath, chair of Mayo Clinic’s Department of Oncology.
The standardized approach lets researchers analyze cancer data faster and on a much larger scale. They can identify patient groups with similar characteristics, spot treatment patterns, and assess whether clinical trials are feasible – all critical steps in developing new therapies.
The context
Mayo Clinic launched Platform_Orchestrate in 2025 as part of its broader push into health technology. The system builds on Mayo Clinic’s existing data ecosystem, which already connects information from multiple sources.
The OMOP Oncology model comes from a global initiative called Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics (OHDSI). Research technology company Nemesis Health helped develop the new capabilities.
“Orchestrate strengthens Mayo Clinic’s commitment to advancing cancer care through data-driven innovation,” says Maneesh Goyal, chief operating officer of Mayo Clinic Platform. “By combining trusted data, advanced artificial intelligence and Mayo Clinic’s scientific expertise, these capabilities help bring new therapies to patients faster.”
The move reflects a broader trend in healthcare toward standardizing data to speed medical research. As hospitals digitize more patient information, the challenge shifts from collecting data to making it useful for researchers across different institutions.