CANCERLIT

The CANCERLIT database (<http://www.cancer.gov/cancer_information/cancer_literature>), compiled since 1976, contains more than 1,800,000 citations from the world's cancer literature beginning from 1963, with more than 60% containing abstracts. Approximately 4,000 medical resources are currently indexed in CANCERLIT, including journals, meeting proceedings, symposia, books, doctoral theses, and research project summaries. Each year an additional 96,000 records are added. Each article is referenced with appropriate MESH terms. CANCERLIT can be searched for cancer literature, clinical trials, and genetic services (<http://www.cancer.gov/ search/cancer_literature>) or by topics (<http: //www.cancer.gov/search/cancer_literature/search_cancerlittopic.aspx>).

MEDLINE

The MEDLINE database, compiled since 1966, contains more than 11,000,000 citations from the world's biomedical literature, with more than 60% containing abstracts since 1965 and 80% referring to English-language items. Approximately 4,500 of the world's 22,000 medical journals are currently indexed in MEDLINE. Each year 372,000 articles are added. Each article is referenced with carefully chosen key words and phrases from the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) MESH terms so that one can call up a list of relevant titles and then obtain the most appropriate abstracts. To assist with searching for evidence-based medicine, a search filter for “systematic reviews” was added in 2002. The most popular Internet location for MEDLINE is PubMed (<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/>). Recently, the NLM was able to link full text articles from about a quarter of the publishers represented on MEDLINE to PubMed. The NLM Gateway site (<http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/gw>) allows users to search multiple NLM databases simultaneously, including MEDLINE, PubMed, OLDMEDLINE, LOCATORplus, MEDLINEplus, DIRLINE, AIDS Meetings, and Health Services research meetings.

PubMed Central

PubMed Central is a digital archive of full-text medical journals that agree to make their contents freely available. It also includes full-text from journals that are only published electronically (<http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov>).

Biosis

Produced by Biosis.org, and available at <http://www.biosis.org>, this database contains 14.5 million citations from 1969 to the present, covering some 9,000 scientific journals and books, conferences, proceedings, and monographs.

Embase

This is EXCERPTA MEDICA's online database produced by Embase.com, which screens 5,000 journals published since 1974, making available more than 13 million citations. It is located at <http://www.embase.com>.

HealthSTAR. This database includes patient outcomes and the effectiveness of procedures, programs, products, services, and processes, and nonclinical healthcare administration and planning aspects of healthcare delivery. It has 3.9 million records and adds 17,000 per month (<http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/gw>).

National Cancer Database

Produced by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons and the American Cancer Society, this database collects cancer registry data from hospitals and helps oncologists compare trends in the treatment of cancer and its outcomes by individual hospital or by state, regional or national patterns of care (<http://www.facs.org/dept/cancer/ncdb>).

ISI Journal Citation Reports

The ISI journal citation reports (JCR) uses the Science Citation Index to determine the frequency of literature citations for a given article and permits the tracking of all articles that cite common references in order to trace common work. Journals indexed are selected on the basis of several criteria, including citation analysis, resulting in coverage of the most significant publications in the scientific, technical, and biomedical literature. In addition to the more conventional retrieval methods, the JCR offers citation indexing, which permits searching by cited references. It is available at <http://www.isinet.com/isi/products/citation/jcr/jcrweb/index.html>.

Physician Data Query

Physician Data Query (PDQ) contains information that has been evaluated by a panel of 70 experts and is updated on a quarterly basis. It contains the latest information about prognosis, staging, cellular classification, and state-of-the-art cancer treatments, clinical trials, screening, prevention, genetics, and supportive care. It gives detailed summaries for the physician or layperson of the 80 major tumor types. Tumors may be searched by body system/site or histologic tissue/type. It lists more than 1,800 currently active protocols that use mostly standardized formats and 12,000 closed-treatment protocols, with detailed information on the study objectives, patient entry criteria, treatment regimens, and demographic information for cooperative groups and physicians involved with the protocols. In addition, PDQ makes available demographic information for approximately 15,000 cancer specialists and more than 1,500 organizations affiliated with societies that are related to cancer. It is readily available to physicians and their patients through telecommunication facilities or telephone (1-800-4-CANCER). The reader is referred to two excellent reviews for further information. ^{56, 57} Table 162-9 lists the major categories of PDQ. PDQ is used primarily by oncologists to ensure the use of the most current treatment methods, to obtain help to make a clinical decision, and to find information about clinical trials. Less frequently, it is used to prepare for conferences or to confirm information from other sources. Other uses include referring a patient to an oncologic investigator in a specific location, finding an investigator who has access to a particular clinical trial, and seeking consultation from another physician (<http://cancer.gov/ cancer_information/pdq/>).

Table 162-9

Physician Data Query (PDQ) Selections.

The Physician's Information and Education Resource

The Physician's Information and Education Resource (PIER) is a practical, evidence-based medical knowledge and guidance resource (<http://www.pier.acp-online.org>). It was developed by the American College of Physicians (ACP) as a member benefit with 130 modules, covering both common and uncommon diseases including modules dealing with prevention and screening, diagnosis, consultation for diagnosis, hospitalization, drug and nondrug therapies, patient education, consultation management, follow-up, case scenarios, clinical alerts, glossaries, references, along with legal and ethical issues, complementary/alternative medicine procedures, and what's new for that disease. It is presented electronically in a unique layered and telegraphic format designed for rapid access to clinical information. PIER is linked to other resources at the ACP's Website and to many other Internet resources. Its uniqueness relates to its intention to mirror the way a physician thinks through a problem. In the disease modules, for example, there is a logical flow of information from diagnosis through management. Its structure and format allows its content to be readily integrated into other applications such as electronic medical records.

SEER

The NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) tumor registry of cancer cases began in 1973 and collects cancer demographic information from nine geographic areas in the United States. Researchers plan to combine this database with the CMS Medicare claims files for the same patients. This will help determine regional cancer treatment and staging procedure costs and the cost-effectiveness of screening and staging procedures and to compare hospital and outpatient costs of cancer care to assist in outcome analyses and practice guidelines research. It is located at <http://seer.cancer.gov>.

CCRIS

The Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information System (CCRIS) contains carcinogenicity, tumor promotion, tumor inhibition, and mutagenicity test results derived from the scanning of primary journals, current awareness tools, NCI technical reports, review articles, and International Agency for Research on Cancer monographs published since 1976 (<http:// toxnet/nlm.nih.gov>).