# GEARBOx - a multisite clinical trial matching tool for children with relapsed or refractory cancer

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · 2022 · $531,117

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
Despite a steady rise in cure rates, cancer remains deadly for many children, especially those with relapsed or
refractory disease. Precision medicine holds great promise for these kids, but matching children to available
clinical trials remains a challenge due a lack of up-to-date information and highly complex eligibility criteria
based on clinical information and genomic and immunophenotype biomarker data. In collaboration with The
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Pediatric Cancer Data Commons (PCDC) team has developed GEARBOx
(Genomic Eligibility Algorithm at Relapse for Better Outcomes), a clinical trial matching tool to allow clinicians
to quickly find potential matches for their patients with relapsed or refractory acute myelogenous leukemia
(AML). We now endeavor to expand GEARBOx to include several more tumor types, including acute
lymphoblastic leukemia, neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, and osteosarcoma. Additionally,
we will augment the often-manual abstraction of eligibility criteria from clinical trials with new automated
methods. The information available to clinicians about trials will be supplemented to include critical data for
how to quickly and efficiently enroll a child on a matched study. Finally, the PCDC team will partner with a
third-party flow cytometry lab (Hematologics) to create ways to automatically pull and incorporate structured
immunophenotype data directly into the GEARBOx tool. These enhancements will greatly enhance the process
of finding appropriate clinical trials for patients and then getting them enrolled, thus improving access to critical
precision therapy for these children.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10424879
- **Project number:** 1U01CA269420-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Samuel Volchenboum
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $531,117
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-21 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10424879

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10424879, GEARBOx - a multisite clinical trial matching tool for children with relapsed or refractory cancer (1U01CA269420-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10424879. Licensed CC0.

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