CREATION OF PDQ PROGRAM ON QUESTIONABLE CANCER THERAPIES

CURRENT SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON QUESTIONABLE MEDICAL MODALITIES ARE LIMITED IN AVAILABILITY AND GENERALLY LACK CRITICAL CONTENT. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP THE CAPACITY TOPROVIDE EASILY ACCESSIBLE, ONLINE COMPREHENSIVE AND DETAILEDINQUIRY RESPONSES TO PHYSICIANS. THE CENTRAL ISSUE OF HOW TO CRITICALLY EVALUATE THERAPIES THAT FOR THE MOST PART HAVENOT FOLLOWED THE TRADITIONAL SCIENTIFIC PATTERNS OF DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING WILL BE ADDRESSED WITH A DELPHI PANEL OF RECOGNIZED EXPERTS. THIS PANEL WILL IDENTIFY THE REQUIRED DATA AND APPROPRIATE STANDARDS FOR CRITICAL EVALUATION, IDENTIFY PRIOIRITY AREAS, AND DEFINE THE TYPE OFPHYSICIAN INQUIRIES THE COMPUTER SOFTWARE SHOULD BE DESIGNEDTO ANSWER. DURING PHASE I, DATA ENTRY AND INQUIRY SOFTWARE WILL BE DEVELOPED ACCORDING TO THE DELPHI DERIVED STANDARDS;AT LEAST ONE AVAILABLE DATABASE WILL BE ENTERED AND EVALUATED; COOPERATIVE ARRANGEMENTS FOR ACCESS TO OTHER EXISTING DATABASES WILL BE DEVELOPED AND INCLUDED IF POSSIBLE. EXPERT CONSULTANTS WILL THEN CRITIQUE ONE OR TWO PRIORITY THERAPIES FOR USE AS DEMONSTRATION CASES FOR THE INTERACTIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM. FINALLY, THE FEASIBILITY OF COMMERCIAL MARKETING OPTIONS WILL BE EXPLORED.