Guy's Cancer Cohort: Guy's Cancer Centre's Real-World Evidence Programme 5 years later

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Data Science
• Epidemiology

Background:

• The increasing burden of cancer necessitates robust real-world data (RWD) for research.
• Guy's Cancer Real-World Evidence Programme, established in 2018 at Guy's and St Thomas' Trust (GSTT), leverages RWD to inform clinical decision-making and local policy.
• The Guy's Cancer Cohort (GCC) database, a key component of this program, has been instrumental in advancing real-world evidence (RWE) capabilities and data integration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the Guy's Cancer Cohort (GCC) database, its renewal, and expansion.
• To highlight the GCC's role in facilitating clinical, mechanistic, and supportive care research.
• To emphasize the database's contribution to improving patient care and outcomes through enhanced data collection and linkage.

Main Methods:

• The GCC database includes pseudonymised data from patients investigated, diagnosed, and/or treated for cancer.
• Data capture encompasses demographics, tumour characteristics, treatments, quality of life, and imaging data.
• The database adheres to the National Health Service national opt-out scheme, ensuring data privacy and ethical compliance.

Main Results:

• The GCC database supports case-control studies and the investigation of factors associated with cancer diagnosis.
• Approximately 8000 cancer diagnoses occur annually at Guy's Cancer Centre, contributing to the cohort.
• The renewal and expansion of the GCC optimize data collection and linkage for research purposes.

Conclusions:

• The Guy's Cancer Cohort database provides essential infrastructure for diverse cancer research questions.
• Its ongoing development and expansion are crucial for advancing cancer research and improving patient outcomes.
• Pseudonymised datasets are available for research applications via cancerdata@gstt.nhs.uk.