Research databases and data sets in cancer surgery - 16 Downloads
Research databases and data sets in cancer surgery
David Rew
Clinical data management presents major challenges and opportunities in cancer treatment. Each patient under care provides an experiment in treatment and a lesson in outcomes. The mass of data from all patients treated successfully and unsuccessfully for cancer produces a mountain of observational and experiential information, which if properly mined, should provide grand insights into the benefits and limitations of treatment strategies.
Professional practice presents a continuous stream of patients of different ages, states of health, origins, specific diagnoses, stages of treatment, social and geographic mobility and clinical outcomes, often requiring multiple interventions. Electronic data collection necessarily takes second place to the immediate needs of clinical care. Well resourced cancer units capture their clinical activity and results on a range of computerized databases of various capabilities and vintages. Unfortunately, the limitations of existing data systems and their connectivity severely constrain the amount of useful insights that can be gleaned.
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