A model for integration and continuous development of standards for tumour documentation using relational database...

In oncology various international and national standards exist for different aspects of a disease. These standards, maintained by different organisations, have multiple relationships with each other. A common data dictionary like UMLS would facilitate the reorganisation of such relationships when a new version of a standard is published. While the modelling of relationships usually is restricted to types having a relevant frequency, there are often relationships which are expressed in texts like definitions or explanations. Such texts are a very important supplement for the acceptance and the safe use of coding systems, but often are neglected when implementing coding systems in computerised systems, because they are costly to implement. This paper discusses potentials when integrating various sources in a common, database based dictionary enhanced by XML (Extensible Markup Language) techniques.