Wearable monitoring to collect health data in people receiving transfusions for blood cancers

WearAble Technology for Collecting Health Data in People Who Are the Transfused (WATCH Transfused) - A UK Exploratory Study to Improve Quality of Life and the Efficacy of Transfusion Supportive Care in People With Blood Cancers Undergoing Treatment

This project will try a wrist-worn accelerometer to see if continuous activity and symptom tracking helps doctors understand and support adults with MDS, AML or related blood cancers who need transfusions.

Quick facts

• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 80 (estimated)
• Ages: 18 Years and up
• Sex: All
• Sponsor: University of Oxford (Academic / other)
• Drugs / interventions: chemotherapy
• Locations: 1 site (Oxford, OXFORDSHIRE)
• Trial ID: NCT07511829 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This observational study uses an Axivity AX3 accelerometer worn by participants to collect continuous activity and movement data alongside regular quality-of-life questionnaires and routine blood tests. Adults with MDS, AML, myeloma or MPN/MDS who plan to receive disease-modifying treatment and transfusions are enrolled and monitored over the treatment period. The team will compare wearable-derived activity and symptom patterns with patient-reported outcomes and transfusion events to identify signals linked to fatigue, breathlessness and treatment tolerance. Participants with significant cardiac devices, severe comorbidity, poor performance status, or who are hospitalized are excluded, and all visits take place at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Adults (≥18) with WHO-defined MDS, AML, myeloma or MPN/MDS who intend to undergo disease-modifying treatment, expect to receive transfusions, have life expectancy ≥6 months, and can wear the device and complete questionnaires are ideal candidates.

Not a fit: Patients who are hospitalized, have ECOG ≥3, have pacemakers/ICDs, significant arrhythmias, severe comorbidities, skin conditions preventing wearable use, or who cannot complete questionnaires are unlikely to benefit from this wearable monitoring approach.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could help clinicians better time transfusions and supportive care to reduce symptoms and improve patients' quality of life.

How similar studies have performed: Wearable activity trackers have shown promise in measuring activity, fatigue and recovery in cancer populations, but applying accelerometer data specifically to guide transfusion-supportive care is relatively novel.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

* Patients aged ≥18 years with WHO-defined MDS or mixed myeloproliferative/myelodysplastic neoplasm overlap syndromes (MPN/MDS), myeloma and AML
* Intention to undertake disease modifying treatment
* Life expectancy ≥ 6 months
* Able to complete quality of life questionnaires
* Willing and able to provide informed consent for participation in the study
* Willing to receive blood products as part of normal NHS care

Exclusion Criteria:

* Poor performance/functional status (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group system ECOG ≥3)
* Participants with known arrhythmias or other significant cardiological conductivity disorders
* Patients with severe comorbidities
* Patients with known skin allergies or conditions that in the opinion of the investigator would compromise the safety of the patient or quality of the data
* Hospitalised patients
* Patients currently participating in another interventional clinical study
* Patients with a pacemaker or implanted cardioverter defibrillator or any cardiac implanted device

Where this trial is running

Oxford, OXFORDSHIRE

• Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust — Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom (Recruiting)

Study contacts

• Principal investigator: Matthew H Poynton, MBBS — University of Oxford
• Study coordinator: Matthew H Poynton, MBBS

Conditions MDS; AML