Building a virtual cancer research organization

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Health Services Research
• Biostatistics

Background:

• The Cancer Research Network (CRN) is a partnership between the National Cancer Institute and 11 research centers within integrated health care systems.
• It focuses on collaborative, multisite research across the cancer continuum, including prevention, screening, treatment, and survivorship in diverse populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the infrastructure and operational model of the CRN for fostering innovative, multisite cancer research.
• To highlight the role of a centralized research management website in supporting a virtual scientific community.

Main Methods:

• The CRN operates as a collaborative virtual research organization with user-defined sharing of data and resources.
• A research management website provides standardized data definitions, file specifications, and analysis tools to facilitate multisite data integration.

Main Results:

• Seven types of standardized data files have been developed, including demographics, eligibility, tumor registry, utilization, medications, lab tests, and imaging.
• Data standardization enhances multisite data integrity, security, and efficiency, reducing rework and accelerating research timelines.
• Standardization stimulates increased collaboration among scientists across multiple institutions.

Conclusions:

• The CRN's research management website and standardized data resources function as a public good.
• The CRN actively seeks collaboration with external researchers for developing and conducting innovative public domain cancer research.