Clinical Trials MCP Server

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MCP server for querying clinical trials from ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Provides intelligent search with defaults optimized for finding relevant, currently recruiting trials.

功能特性 Features

• 🔍 Smart Search: Keywords, disease type, location-based search
• 📍 Geographic: Search by country, city, or coordinates
• ⏰ Time Filters: Default to past 3 months (recruiting trials)
• 📊 Detailed Info: Complete trial details including PI, contacts, eligibility
• 🌐 Bilingual: Supports Chinese and English queries

Quick Start with npx

No installation required! Run directly:

npx xiaoyibao-clinical-trials

MCP Client Configuration

Add to your MCP client settings:

Using npx (Recommended)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "clinical-trials": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "xiaoyibao-clinical-trials"]
    }
  }
}

Using local installation

npm install -g xiaoyibao-clinical-trials

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "clinical-trials": {
      "command": "xiaoyibao-clinical-trials"
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

1. search_clinical_trials

Search for clinical trials with intelligent defaults.

Default Behavior:

• Status: RECRUITING (currently recruiting)
• Time: Past 3 months (trials more likely to be open)
• Results: 30 most relevant trials, sorted by recent updates

Parameters:

• keywords (string): Keywords like "KRAS G12D", "PD-1", "Pembrolizumab"
• condition (string): Disease/condition like "Pancreatic Cancer", "肠癌"
• country (string): Country name like "China", "United States", "中国"
• city (string): City name like "Beijing", "上海", "New York"
• months (number): Time range in months (default: 3)
• status (string): Recruitment status (default: "RECRUITING")
• pageSize (number): Results per page (default: 30, max: 100)
• pageToken (string): Pagination token

Example:

{
  "keywords": "KRAS G12D",
  "condition": "Pancreatic Cancer",
  "country": "China"
}

2. get_trial_details

Get comprehensive trial details including:

• Principal Investigators (PI) information
• Hospital locations by city
• Contact details (phone, email)
• Detailed study description
• Eligibility criteria (inclusion/exclusion)
• Primary/secondary outcomes

Parameters:

• nctId (string, required): NCT number like "NCT04852770"

Example:

{
  "nctId": "NCT04852770"
}

3. search_by_location

Search trials by geographic coordinates.

Parameters:

• latitude (number, required): Latitude
• longitude (number, required): Longitude
• radius (number): Search radius in miles (default: 50)
• condition (string): Disease/condition (optional)
• keywords (string): Keywords (optional)
• status (string): Recruitment status (default: "RECRUITING")
• months (number): Time range (default: 3)
• pageSize (number): Results per page (default: 30)

Example:

{
  "latitude": 39.9042,
  "longitude": 116.4074,
  "radius": 50,
  "condition": "Lung Cancer"
}

Output Format

All responses are in JSON format, optimized for LLM processing.

Search Results

{
  "totalCount": 13,
  "count": 13,
  "studies": [
    {
      "nctId": "NCT06218914",
      "title": "Phase 1 Study to Investigate TCRTs KRAS Mutation...",
      "status": "RECRUITING",
      "conditions": ["Pancreatic Cancer", "KRAS G12D"],
      "interventions": [{"type": "Drug", "name": "NT-112"}],
      "sponsor": "AstraZeneca",
      "studyType": "INTERVENTIONAL",
      "phase": ["PHASE1"],
      "lastUpdate": "2024-10-15"
    }
  ]
}

Trial Details

Includes all search fields plus:

• investigators[] - PI and research team
• overallOfficials[] - Study officials
• centralContacts[] - Global contact info (phone, email)
• locations[] - All hospital sites with local contacts
• locationsSummary - Statistics (countries, cities, total sites)
• eligibility - Detailed inclusion/exclusion criteria
• primaryOutcomes[], secondaryOutcomes[] - Study endpoints
• briefSummary, detailedDescription - Full study description

Toolchain Prompt Guidance

To ensure stability, accuracy, and user experience when calling this MCP service, we provide dedicated toolchain prompt documentation. These prompts are not just optional references—they are essential foundations for using this service effectively.

Why Toolchain Prompts Matter

• Stability: Prompts standardize tool-calling sequences (search → details → structured output), preventing LLM from making arbitrary calls that result in low efficiency or messy results.
• Accuracy: Clear parameter-selection rules and location-filtering logic ensure search results match patient questions precisely (e.g., drug name + province like GFH276 + Zhejiang hospitals).
• User Experience: A unified four-part output structure (conclusion first → evidence & explanation → key tips → risks & channel reminders) helps patients/families understand quickly, avoid risks, and find next-step support.

Prompt Files & Usage Methods

1. Compact Version (Recommended for Production)

• File: CLINICAL_TRIALS_PROMPT_REFERENCE_COMPACT.md
• Purpose: Use directly as the system prompt / developer prompt for MCP clients (e.g., Claude Desktop).
• Benefits: Concise and powerful; contains all core rules and scenarios; minimizes token waste.
• How to use:
  1. Copy or reference the file content into your LLM's system prompt.
  2. LLM will automatically call search_clinical_trials and get_trial_details following the toolchain rules.
  3. Output will auto-organize into the four-part structure, optimized for patient/family reading.

2. Full Version (Reference & Documentation)

• File: CLINICAL_TRIALS_PROMPT_REFERENCE.md
• Purpose: Detailed explanations and additional scenarios for developers to understand or customize.
• When to use:
  • Need to understand the full toolchain design philosophy.
  • Adding new clinical query scenarios.
  • Team training or documentation reference.

Typical Usage Scenarios

Scenario 1: Query GFH276 + Zhejiang Hospitals

Patient question → Search GFH276 (keyword) + China (country)
             → Get NCT number (e.g., NCT07198321)
             → Query trial details & hospital locations
             → Filter hospitals in Zhejiang cities (Hangzhou/Ningbo/Wenzhou, etc.)
             → Output in four-part structure

Scenario 2: Find Trials Near Patient

Patient question (with city or coordinates) → Use search_by_location or search_clinical_trials (city param)
                                        → List trials in patient's city/nearby
                                        → Call get_trial_details for key trials
                                        → Output in four-part structure

Integration Recommendations

• Claude Desktop Users: Paste CLINICAL_TRIALS_PROMPT_REFERENCE_COMPACT.md content into your Claude Desktop custom system prompt, or reference the file at conversation start.
• Other MCP Clients: Based on your client's system prompt / instruction configuration, integrate the prompt content accordingly.
• API Callers: If using this MCP via API, include the compact prompt version in your system prompt parameter to ensure every call follows the standard.

Commitment to Stability

We commit to long-term stability of toolchain prompts. When updating:

• Backward compatibility of core rules is maintained.
• Breaking changes (if any) are clearly marked in git commits.
• Migration guides and version cross-reference docs are provided.

Welcome feedback or improvement suggestions! Contact us via GitHub issue or the "XiaoYiBao Assistant" WeChat official account.

API Reference

• ClinicalTrials.gov API Documentation
• Complex Query Construction
• Search Areas

Development

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/PancrePal-xiaoyibao/xiaoyibao-clinical-trials-mcp-server.git

cd xiaoyibao-clinical-trials-mcp-server

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run tests
npm test

# Start server
npm start

Publishing to npm

# Login to npm
npm login

# Publish package
npm publish

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

Speical thanks to the contribution & development of Xiaoyibao-Pancrepal & xiao-x-bao community to support cancer/rare disease patients and their families with ❤️ & AI！