Toward an integrated knowledge environment to support modern oncology

Patrick M. Blake, David A. Decker, Timothy M. Glennon, Yong Michael Liang, Sascha Losko, Nicholas Navin, K. Stephen Suh

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Around the world, teams of researchers continue to develop a wide range of systems to capture, store, and analyze data including treatment, patient outcomes, tumor registries, next-generation sequencing, single-nucleotide polymorphism, copy number, gene expression, drug chemistry, drug safety, and toxicity. Scientists mine, curate, and manually annotate growing mountains of data to produce high-quality databases, while clinical information is aggregated in distant systems. Databases are currently scattered, and relationships between variables coded in disparate datasets are frequently invisible. The challenge is to evolve oncology informatics from a "systems" orientation of standalone platforms and silos into an "integrated knowledge environments" that will connect "knowable" research data with patient clinical information. The aim of this article is to review progress toward an integrated knowledge environment to support modern oncology with a focus on supporting scientific discovery and improving cancer care.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)257-263
Number of pages7
JournalCancer Journal
Volume17
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2011

Keywords

  • Informatics
  • biomarkers
  • integration
  • knowledge environment
  • next-generation sequencing
  • oncology
  • outcomes
  • patient
  • treatment

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oncology
  • Cancer Research

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Toward an integrated knowledge environment to support modern oncology'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this