ORCAS: Network-Based Management of Cancer Clinical Trials

Background. The complexity of information management in cancer clinical trials has been known for two decades. [1]. Initial approaches focused on the complexity of collecting data in protocols [2], while more recent investigators have focused on knowledge reuse [3] and patient accrual [4]. The Oregon Cancer Center (OCC) at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) manages a large number of investigator-initiated and cooperative protocols. Managing protocols in their various stages, tracking adverse events for study sponsors and the FDA, and allowing easier accrual of patients are complex tasks for which an informatics application can help. Towards this end, we have implemented the Oregon Cancer Access System (ORCAS). The major objectives of this system are to meet the goals described above with an easy-to-use system that takes advantage of OHSU's statewide physician and computer networks.