Patient inclusion and data collection

SPRINTR-Real constitutes the primary mechanism for initial patient inclusion and data collection within the SPRINTR infrastructure.

The ethical permission obtained for SPRINTR-Real forms a comprehensive platform for multi-disciplinary precision medicine research. it covers use of biological samples, clinical images, lab reports, register data as well as patient reported outcomes.

Patients are enrolled during their clinical workup—often before a diagnosis has been established—and provide informed consent for both current and future research. More than 90% agree to participate.

Data are collected from multiple complementary sources, including clinical records, national quality and health data registers, imaging data (MRI, PET, CT), digital pathology, molecular analyses, biobank samples, and patient-reported outcomes.

SPRINTR infrastructure

While SPRINTR-Real focuses on building a national, prospective study population, the SPRINTR infrastructure provides the broader framework for integrating, managing and reusing these data across multiple studies and research activities.

All data flows into a shared, secure data environment with encrypted storage, version control, and ongoing quality assurance by data stewards and technical staff. Data are harmonised to standardised formats — such as OMOP, FHIR, or openEHR — facilitating interoperability and reuse, and made available in approved secure research environments with standardised analysis pipelines.

The SPRINTR setup enables the selection of a study-ready population—a cohort of patients who can be rapidly identified and recruited to new studies, irrespective of where in Sweden they receive care

The result is a platform that supports reproducible and comparable analyses across studies.

Value for research and industry

The study-ready population and integrated data resource enable a wide range of research applications, including observational studies, biomarker validation and clinical trials. 

SPRINTR creates value for multiple stakeholders:

For researchers

• Access to integrated, high-quality datasets

• Ability to combine clinical, molecular and imaging data

• Support for both exploratory and confirmatory research 

For industry

• Access to well-characterised patient populations

• Opportunities for biomarker-driven research and clinical trials

• Improved efficiency in patient recruitment 

For healthcare and society

• Improved understanding of disease and treatment response

• Support for health economic and outcome analyses

• Faster translation of research into clinical practice

SPRINTR@AIDA

SPRINTR will create a sandbox capability for multimodal precision-medicine tools within Analytic Imaging Diagnostics Arena (AIDA) Data Hub (SciLifeLab, Linköping). This project brings together SPRINTR-Real (data and ethical framework), AIDA Data Hub (host platform and technical infrastructure), and Genomic Medicine Sweden (non-academic partner and clinical uptake pathway), with industry partners and the European Association of Urology  as stakeholders

Scalability and international reach out

The infrastructure is designed to be disease agnostic. Technical solutions, agreements, and ethical frameworks are generic and reusable across cancer types. SPRINTR is currently implemented in prostate cancer, with ongoing work to extend the infrastructure to glioma and pancreatic cancer.

The primary goal of the SPRINTR infrastructure is to facilitate research and recruitment to clinical trials by the two-step consent procedure. Therefore, the ethical permission is primarily based on general precision medicine research questions, with certain sections open for cancerform-specific additions. This opens for easy adaption and scalability of the SPRINTR-concept

The SPRINTR concept has been presented internationally and plans to implement parallel structures are being discussed in the other Nordic countries. Uro Evidence Hub and EUnetCCC serve as platforms for dissemination of SPRINTR data structures and solutions, and conceptual framework to accelerate precision medicine research and implementation across Europe.

Data access

SPRINTR is an official research infrastructure at Umeå University. It is open to researchers and collaborators, regardless of organisational affiliation. Access is based on a project proposal, relevant ethical approval to complement SPRINTR-Real (if applicable), and compliance with data protection requirements. Following review by the infrastructure's steering committee, approved projects gain access to relevant data within secure environments. Contact us at info.sprintr@umu.se to start a dialogue.

Academic use is priced on a cost-recovery basis; commercial use is priced at market rates.