Pilot study of a European oncology regimen reference library and matching algorithm

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Health Informatics
• Data Standardization

Background:

• Lack of a European data standard for oncology regimens hinders real-world treatment data comparison.
• The Oncology Data Network developed a unified reference database, the Core Regimen Reference Library (CRRL).
• An automated matching algorithm was designed to standardize regimen data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To pilot test an automated algorithm for matching oncology regimens against a standardized European database.
• To assess the feasibility of computerised matching compared to manual expert review.

Main Methods:

• A diverse sample of 47 European oncology regimens were codified to the common data standard.
• An automated matching algorithm was applied to match regimens to the CRRL.
• An expert pharmacist panel from the European Society of Oncology Pharmacy (ESOP) performed a single-blind test on 12 selected regimens.

Main Results:

• The expert pharmacist panel validated the algorithm's feasibility.
• Full concurrence was achieved between manual and computerised matching of regimens.
• The algorithm's rules and logic were validated for comparing regimen characteristics.

Conclusions:

• The validation of the matching algorithm and the master library approach by ESOP instills confidence.
• The developed system is suitable for reliable comparison of real-world oncology regimen usage across Europe.