Researcher with Stage 4 Cancer Launches Site to Help Others Navigate Clinical Trials

Among patients with colon cancer, researcher Tom Marsilje has made a name for himself by helping others learn about new clinical trials. He has scoured the database ClinicalTrials.gov, circulated a weekly spreadsheet, and served as a clearinghouse for patients desperate for a chance to beat back their disease.

But, for Marsilje, it has been a labor-intensive process, and it has been hard to escape a troubling reality. He is waging his own fight against stage 4 colon cancer, and if he ultimately succumbs to the disease, his community of fellow patients could lose the kind of information they need most.

On Wednesday, in partnership with a New York-based health technology startup and the advocacy group Fight Colorectal Cancer, Marsilje launched a free online site that largely automates the clinical trials search for patients with his disease, known as microsatellite stable (or MSS) colon cancer...