tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17889588.post4668332309601494644..comments2024-03-13T07:14:55.283+01:00Comments on chem-bla-ics: Re: How can cancer research be open-sourced?Egon Willighagenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07470952136305035540noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17889588.post-70446934769716468732011-01-19T08:11:48.722+01:002011-01-19T08:11:48.722+01:00The Cancer Commons might be of interest to you. It...The <a href="http://cancercommons.org/Commons/Home.html" rel="nofollow">Cancer Commons</a> might be of interest to you. It is comprised of different community stakeholders in cancer research (patients, doctors, researchers) sharing data on the web. The idea is that the commons will be used in real-time, allowing rapid dissemination of cutting-edge research. Currently, the Cancer Commons is only being rolled out for melanoma, but plans to add other types of cancer (particularly lung and breast, I believe) are in the works.<br /><br />This approach - which is basically an open data project, on a different kind of scale - will change cancer care. It represents a large shift in scientific practice: by aggregating treatment plans for different cancer types, we may be able to understand what drug combinations work best for specific cancer sub-types. Currently, many cancer treatment plans are "N of 1" - an oncologist prescribing an off-label cocktail of drugs to a late-stage cancer patient. Cancer Commons essentially aggregates those "N of 1" informal treatment plans in order to build more formal treatment plans for cancer sub-types.<br /><br />This is the type of model that relies on open data and should represent a strong incentive for researchers, who are largely concerned with rigorous testing and rapid dissemination of their findings. The Cancer Commons allows for both these things, cutting across institutional and geographic boundaries. It is a model that will hopefully change the way that cancer is treated.Kaitlinhttp://twitter.com/k8linnoreply@blogger.com