The Internet has become nearly indispensable for finding the latest information on cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. This chapter highlights several websites that cater to oncology professionals, researchers, and patients.
American Cancer Society
www.cancer.org Basic resources including the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Facts & Figures 2008 are readily available from the home page. Estimates of the numbers of new cancer cases and deaths for the current year are presented according to gender, site, and stage. Also presented is information on cancer mortality, the probability of developing cancer at certain ages, and cancer survival in adults and children.
American Society of Clinical Oncology
www.asco.org Health care professionals can access information on American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) policies, clinical guidelines, publications, and a searchable database of abstracts from ASCO’s annual scientific meetings dating back to 1995. www.cancer.net ASCO launched cancer.net in 2008, a comprehensive, doctor- approved patient website that provides reliable, up-to-the-minute information on more than 120 types of cancer and cancer-related syndromes.
American Society of Hematology
www.hematology.org A comprehensive collection of articles and reviews on hematologic malignancies may be found at the American Society of Hematology’s (ASH) website. The site also offers a direct link to the Society’s official journal, Blood, where the full text of all articles dating back to January 1996 can be downloaded and printed.
Cancer Information Service
http://cis.nci.nih.gov/ Cancer Information Service (CIS) is a nationwide network of 14 regional offices supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Reliable information on cancer causes and prevention and a collection of recently issued NCI Cancer Facts fact sheets and the new What You Need To Know About™ series of patient guides are also available online by following links from the CIS home page. CIS also offers a toll-free phone service and provides accurate, up-to-date information on cancer to the public in English and Spanish. The phone number is 1-800-4-CANCER.
Cancernetwork.com
www.cancernetwork.com An excellent source of reliable cancer information is cancernetwork.com The site features free access to the full text of over 6,000 peer-reviewed medical journal articles from the pages of ONCOLOGY and news reports from Oncology News International; selected text of this handbook, Cancer Management: A Multidisciplinary Approach; free CME based on review articles, cancer-related news stories, and background material online, and more.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/ The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains several websites for both health professionals and researchers, as well as the public.
www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/ Information on CDC cancer prevention programs may be accessed at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion’s website.
CenterWatch
www.centerwatch.com CenterWatch offers a worldwide directory of more than 41,000 active industry and government-sponsored trials with independent review board (IRB) approval. Each listing contains a brief summary of the study, the general inclusion/exclusion criteria, and contact information. The database is easily searched, even by a newcomer, and the website has become a major influence for patient recruitment into active clinical trials.
Coalition of National Cancer Cooperative Groups
http://www.CancerTrialsHelp.org/ The Coalition of National Cancer Cooperative Groups was founded in 1997 by the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG), National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), Pediatric Oncology Group (POG), and Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG). The Coalition’s website provides details on the Coalition’s initiatives in many areas and features a software tool, TrialCheckSM, for locating ongoing clinical trials among the Coalition’s cooperative groups.
National Cancer Institute
http://cancer.gov The NCI’s vast website provides information suitable to clinical practitioners, researchers, patients, and the general public. Among the cancer resources available from the home page are:
http://cancer.gov/cancerinfo/pdq/ Peer-reviewed, frequently updated sum maries on cancer treatment, screening, prevention, genetics, and supportive care;
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov A registry of approximately 25,000 clinical studies sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, other Federal agencies, and private industries and conducted in all 50 states and in more than 120 countries plus up-to-date information for locating these trials;
http://researchportfolio.cancer.gov/ A comprehensive database of NCI-supported basic and clinical research programs;
http://cancer.gov/researchandfunding A directory of NCI research tools and funding opportunities (human, animal, and genomic) for cancer researchers;
http://cancer.gov/statistics Statistical databases and resources, including cancer incidence by gender, race, ethnicity, and type of cancer; 5-year survival rates; frequencies of childhood cancers; and cancer mortality in the United States by gender and race patient information.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network
www.nccn.org The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) website provides access to the NCCN’s current Clinical Practice Guidelines, links to ongoing clinical trials at member institutions, and a directory of physicians for referrals. Recent additions include treatment guidelines for patients in both Spanish and English as well as NCCN drugs and biologic companions.
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
www.nidcr.nih.gov/oralhealth/topics/cancertreatment Resources on cancer treatment and oral health for health professionals and patients including, in English and Spanish, information for preventing and managing oral health complications of cancer treatment.
PubMed.gov
http://pubmed.gov/ PubMed a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), provides access to over 12 million Medline citations in abstract form dating back to the mid-1960s.
http://www.cancer.gov/search/pubmed/ In addition, PubMed offers selected cancer topic searches for more than 100 different cancer topics.
SearchMedica
Searchmedica.com SearchMedica’s index contains well over 1,000 websites organized into numerous therapeutic categories, including cancer. Searches may also be refined by clicking one of the therapeutic category links to narrow results to that area. SearchMedica also allows users to refine results by content category such as Research/Reviews, Practical Articles and News, Patient Education Materials, and Practice Guidelines.
Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program
http://seer.cancer.gov/ The NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program collects and publishes cancer incidence and survival data from population-based cancer registries covering approximately 26% of the US population. Trends in age-adjusted SEER cancer incidence and mortality, by race and gender, are presented, as well as 5-year survival rates, by race and gender, and much more.
Other Internet sources of cancer information
www.apos-society.org Psychological services/counseling from the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS). APOS provides a helpline for patients in addition to other tools and resources for oncologists and other health professionals involved in the care of cancer patients.
www.mdlinx.com/HemeOncLinx/ MdLinx provides daily summaries of hematology/oncology articles culled from a wide variety of professional publications. Articles can be accessed by linkage from the web page. Registered users (registration is free) can also have synopses sent daily to e-mail accounts on general or specified topics within hematology and oncology.
www.mskcc.org/aboutherbs Alternative therapies: An excellent resource for information on commonly used herbs and botanicals is the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center site. General information on health-related frauds can be found at www.quackwatch.org.
www.oncolink.com OncoLink is a popular website maintained by the University of Pennsylvania, offering a broad variety of news articles, fact sheets, and annotated links to cancer-related information at other websites. The site includes multimedia slide shows, video films, and audio lectures on a wide range of topics.
Additional resources
www.aacr.org American Association for Cancer Research
www.acr.org The American College of Radiology
www.astro.org The American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
www.leukemia-lymphoma.org The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
www.ons.org Oncology Nursing Society
Links to the web pages of state and other regional cancer registries may be found at www.askcnet.org/dataq/cancer.htm. This site also includes links to cancer registries around the world. Other places to look for cancer registries and statistical data in the United States and Canada are the websites maintained by the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (www.naaccr.org), and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (www.iarc.fr).
European sites, the sites maintained by the International Union Against Cancer (www.uicc.org), CancerBACUP (www.cancerbacup.org.uk), and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (www.eortc.be/) are extensive, information-rich resources designed primarily for health care professionals.
