A RESEARCH QUESTION DATABASE ON CANCER

THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A RESEARCH QUESTION DATABASE (RQDB) ON CANCER. EACH RECORD WILL REPRESENT EXACTLY ONE RESEARCH QUESTION. FOR EXAMPLE, "IS THERE A NECESSARY CAUSATIVE AGENT FOR AIDS"? FOR THIS PARTICULAR QUESTION, THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY HAS A CURRENT CONSENSUS ANSWER (YES),BUT FOR MANY RESEARCH QUESTIONS THE ANSWERS ARE EITHER UNKNOWN OR CONFLICTING. EXAMPLES ARE: DOES EMOTIONAL STATE MODIFY CANCER DEVELOPMENT? ARE PESTICIDES, INSECTICIDES, AND OTHER CHEMICALS APPLIED TO FOOD (LIKE ALAR) SIGNIFICANT FACTORS IN HUMAN CARCINOGENESIS? DO SINGLET OXYGEN AND FREERADICALS PLAY SIGNIFICANT ROLES IN CANCER INDUCTION? THE RQDB WILL CONTAIN: ACTIVE QUESTIONS (EACH WITH A UNIQUE NUMBER), CURRENT CANDIDATE ANSWERS (WITH POINTERS TO APPROPRIATE RECORDS IN CANCERLIT AND MEDLINE), INDEXING (TO FACILITATE RETRIEVAL), LINKS TO BROADER AND NARROWER QUESTIONS, AND OPEN/CLOSED ASSESSMENTS FOR EACH QUESTION. IN PHASE I, THE WORK WILL DRAW ON THE APPROXIMATELY 173 ONCOLOGY OVERVIEW PUBLICATIONS OF THE NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE, EACH OF WHICH WAS COMPOSED BY A DISTINGUISHED REVIEWER, BUT NONE OF WHICH IS AVAILABLE IN A COMPUTER DATABASE. IT IS HOPED THAT RQDB WILL GIVE THE USER A MORE BALANCED, COMPLETE, AND DIRECT OVERVIEW OF WHAT IS KNOWN THAN IS NOW POSSIBLE VIA DIRECT ACCESS TO MEDLINE AND CANCERLIT.