CancerLinQ: An Innovative Idea, Mindfully Executed

Feb 22, 2017

physician examining data in an X ray roomThis is the third article 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. Read Part 1 and Part 2.

In June 2012, ASCO announced that it was “embarking on CancerLinQ®, a multiphase initiative that promises to change the way cancer is understood and treated.” The newly established rapid learning system aimed to provide physicians with decision support, allow them to assess their quality of care, and harness technologic advances to connect oncology practices. The idea was that doctors would be able to glean personalized insights on a previously unattainable scope, and patients would benefit by having practitioners with access to high-quality care informed by up-to-date insights and findings. While similar systems have arisen since then, the CancerLinQ® platform was and remains the only effort of its kind being driven by a nonprofit, physician organization.

Five years later, the CancerLinQ® database went live and has continuously grown. To date, the database has collected patient records from providers in 40 states and the District of Columbia. Providers who have signed on span from small private practices to academic medical centers.

The spirit of progress, dedication, and quest for knowledge that is exemplified by ASCO’s members is what drives CancerLinQ and its development. The platform also benefits from the Society’s expertise and half-century-long mission to conquer cancer through research, education, and promotion of the highest-quality patient care.

This allows CancerLinQ to bring together a robust network of members and practitioners in the field of oncology who contribute to the care of cancer patients across the U.S. and provide users with access to de-identified data from potentially millions of cancer patients to help inform decisions about patient care.

The computing power behind CancerLinQ is the SAP Health platform that runs on SAP Hana®. SAP Hana offers a flexible, in-memory data management and application platform created by software giant SAP. Last year, CancerLinQ LLC was selected as one of the first strategic partners on SAP Connected Health, which will grow to include an ecosystem of a variety of different organizations that influence every aspect of the cycle of care, from payers to providers and from researchers to life sciences companies.

Watch a video of participating CancerLinQ physicians describing why they decided to sign on to the platform.

To learn more how your practice can partner with CancerLinQ, contact info@cancerlinq.org.

CancerLinQ is supported in part through the Conquer Cancer Foundation, whose generous donors have helped make the system possible. Major supporters include Amgen; Astellas; AstraZeneca; Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Cancer Treatment Centers of America®; Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation; Genentech BioOncology™; HELSINN; Janssen Oncology; Lilly; Raj Mantena, RPh; Novartis Oncology; Pfizer Oncology; Thomas G. Roberts, Jr., MD, and Susan M. DaSilva; and Susan G. Komen®.

In the next post, we discuss CancerLinQ LLC’s latest offering, CancerLinQ Discovery™.


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