News Details
NCCN Announces Release of New Cancer Testing CD-ROM
ROCKLEDGE, PA, July 21, 2003 – The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), an alliance of 19 of the world's leading cancer centers, is pleased to announce its newest CD-ROM, entitled Cancer Testing: Work up, Staging, and Follow-up within the Complete Library of NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology.
The purpose of this CD-ROM is to serve as a resource to primary care physicians and specialists in areas other than oncology as they provide care to the patient with cancer. The contents focus on the work-up and follow-up testing that patients undergo as part of their initial evaluation for cancer and their ongoing surveillance following therapy. The goals are several:
- To acquaint primary care physicians and specialists in areas other than oncology with the specific tests indicated for each cancer, which are frequently geared to the specific stage of the tumor;
- To facilitate the primary care physician’s understanding of the rationale for a specific set of tests and also, to understand the rationale for not including particular tests in this set;
- To enable them to anticipate for patients the upcoming testing schedule; and
- To enable them to reassure patients about the adequacy and appropriateness of the scope and scheduling of their tests.
The CD-ROM presents over 100 NCCN clinical practice guidelines. These tumor-specific guidelines provide recommendations for the total management of the cancer patient, spanning care from initial diagnosis and evaluation, through primary and adjuvant treatment followed by surveillance, to the management of recurrent and advanced disease. Each guideline consists of an algorithm, outlining the clinical decision-making pathway, a manuscript describing the evidence behind the recommendations, and references. By highlighting the diagnostic, initial staging and evaluation, and surveillance sections of each pathway, the clinician will be able to ascertain quickly and accurately the appropriate testing for a particular patient at a specific point in his or her disease.
For more information, please visit www.nccn.org.