ASCO's big-data, real-world health system revolutionizes future of cancer care

Oct 28 2017

Future Science Group (FSG) today announced the publication of an article in Future Oncology discussing the American Society of Clinical Oncology's (ASCO's) CancerLinQ (Cancer Learning Intelligence Network for Quality) real-world, rapid learning health system.

Cancer care has evolved over recent years into requiring technology to enable clinical, administrative and patient-generated data on individual patients to be accessed, shared and comprehended in near real-time for better informed, data-driven, evidence-based decision-making.

With this in mind, ASCO created the big-data, real-world health information technology system CancerLinQ®, which launched in U.S. oncology practices, academic medical centers and health systems in 2016. This editorial, written by Jennifer L. Wong and Robert S. Miller (ASCO, VA, USA), describes the opportunities afforded by the CancerLinQ platform as well as challenges addressed by the promise and availability of such a system.

"Innovation and the power of trusted networks are key to harnessing information generated every day to support insights and breakthroughs that will transform care," commented Wong, (CancerLinQ LLC Chief of Strategic Alliances). "CancerLinQ is a catalyst for the future of healthcare--our intentional strides to grow and scale through coalition building, powerful analytics and data sharing alliances with public, private and not-for-profit partners will allow us to accomplish this and much more."

CancerLinQ is envisioned to be a step towards fulfilling the vision statement released in 2012 by ASCO, which suggested that "big data" would have a major impact on improving the field of cancer care. Practitioners benefit from access to real-time clinical quality metrics and analyses, while researchers draw upon the rapidly growing pool of longitudinal, de-identified data.

"The future is all about bringing together patients, providers and partners to be smarter and more connected in our approach to healthcare," concluded Wong. "We must learn from one another, leverage the latest innovations, and collaborate to catalyze progress. With the trust of the cancer community, CancerLinQ will be a home to understand what is happening in real-world cancer care today--faster, effectively, and more meaningfully--and be a resource to drive new knowledge, evidence, solutions and discoveries that will benefit people around the world."