CancerLinQ: A Natural Extension of ASCO's Mission

Feb 08, 2017

This is the first in a five-part series that will provide an overview of ASCO’s history and mission and how its innovative big data platform, CancerLinQ®, is supporting and furthering the Society’s objectives.

In 1964, seven cancer physicians came together and founded ASCO with a single purpose: to improve the care of people with cancer. From that legacy comes CancerLinQ, a rapid learning system created by oncologists for oncologists designed that will aggregate and analyze real-world cancer evidence to improve the quality and efficiency of the cancer care delivery system.

At the time ASCO was established, cancer was viewed as largely incurable, and there were few treatments available. However, in the past 52 years, the oncological body of knowledge has increased dramatically, and many crucial advances have been made just a few of which include:

  • 1970s—Researchers performed the first computed tomography (CT) scan on a human patient with a suspected brain tumor, which allowed doctors for the first time to clearly see tumors arising in the soft tissue of the brain. Over the following decades, CT scanning enabled doctors to assess the size, shape and location of many other types of tumors and to carefully target radiation and surgery to hit the tumors without harming healthy tissue.
  • 1975—ASCO members Past President Bernard Fisher, MD, FACS (who was also ASCO’s 1992-93 president), and Gianni Bonadonna, MD, demonstrated that chemotherapy after surgery—known as adjuvant chemotherapy—prolonged the lives of women with early-stage breast cancer. Adjuvant chemotherapy became a major component of treatment for the disease, improving survival and cure rates. Additionally, the findings provided a foundation for research on adjuvant therapy in other common cancers, making it one of the most important advances in modern cancer care.
  • 2005—The National Cancer Institute and National Human Genome Research Institute launched The Cancer Genome Atlas project. By gaining a deeper understanding of the genetic pathways involved in the development and growth of these cancers, researchers hope to identify molecular targets that can guide development of effective new treatment.

Many other pioneers in the field of oncology who have helped develop and perfect advancements have been ASCO members, including Sidney Farber, MD; Kanti R. Rai, MD; and Janet D. Rowley, MD. These physicians dedicated their lives to improving the quality of care for patients with cancer.

From this foundation stems CancerLinQ, the evolutionary next step in ASCO’s rich 50-plus-year history of being the world’s leading professional organization for physicians and oncology professionals caring for people with cancer.

Learn more about ASCO’s history.

In the next post, we examine ASCO’s commitment to improving the quality of cancer care and how CancerLinQ, and some of the Society’s other initiatives, support this endeavor.


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