2/2020
vol. 12
abstract:
Original paper
SKIN-COBRA (Consortium for Brachytherapy data Analysis) ontology: The first step towards interdisciplinary standardized data collection for personalized oncology in skin cancer
Valentina Lancellotta
1
,
Alessandro Di Stefani
5, 6
,
Stefano Gentileschi
6, 7
,
Francesco Federico
6, 8
,
Arenas Meritxell
12, 13
,
Silvia Rodriguez Villalba
14
,
Giuseppe Ferdinando Colloca
1
,
Nicola Dino Capocchiano
1
,
Vincenzo Valentini
1, 6
,
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, UOC Radioterapia Oncologica, Dipartimento di Diagnostica per Immagini,
Radioterapia Oncologica ed Ematologia, Roma, Italy
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Foundation Instituto Valenciano de Oncologia
(I.V.O.), Valencia, Spain
- The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Department of Clinical Oncology, Manchester, United Kingdom
- The University
of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Istituto di Dermatologia, Roma, Italy
- Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Dipartimento Scienze della
Salute della Donna e del Bambino, Unità di Chirurgia Plastica, Roma, Italy
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Institute
of Pathology, Roma, Italy
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Medical Oncology, Roma, Italy
- Foundation IMOR,
Department of Radiation Oncology, Barcelona, Spain
- Greater Poland Cancer Centre, Brachytherapy Department, Poznań, Poland
- Hospital
Universitari Sant Joan de Reus, Radiation Oncology Department, Tarragona, Spain
- Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
- Hospital
Clinica Benidorm, Department of Radiation Oncology, Alicante, Spain
- University of Lübeck/UKSH-CL, Interdisciplinary Brachytherapy Unit,
Lübeck, Germany
- Gemelli-INTERACTS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy
J Contemp Brachytherapy 2020; 12, 2: 105–110
Online publish date: 2020/04/30
Purpose The primary objective of the SKIN-COBRA (Consortium for Brachytherapy data Analysis) ontology is to define a specific terminological system to standardize data collection for non-melanoma skin cancer patients treated with brachytherapy (BT, interventional radiotherapy). Through ontological characterization of information, it is possible to find, isolate, organize, and integrate its meaning.
Material and methods SKIN-COBRA is a standardized data collection consortium for non-melanoma skin patients treated with BT, including 8 cancer centers. Its ontology was firstly defined by a multicentric and multidisciplinary working group and evaluated by the consortium, followed by a multi-professional technical commission involving a mathematician, an engineer, a physician with experience in data storage, a programmer, and a software expert.
Results Two hundred and ninety variables were defined in 10 input forms. There are 3 levels, with each offering a specific type of analysis: 1. Registry level (epidemiology analysis); 2. Procedures level (standard oncology analysis); 3. Research level (radiomics analysis). The ontology was approved by the technical commission and consortium, and an ad-hoc software system was defined to be implemented in the SKIN-COBRA consortium.
Conclusions Large databases are natural extension of traditional statistical approaches, a valuable and increasingly necessary tool for modern healthcare system. Future analysis of the collected multinational and multicenter data will show whether the use of the system can produce high-quality evidence to support multidisciplinary management of non-melanoma skin cancer and utilizing this information for personalized treatment decisions.
keywords:
brachytherapy, ontology, skin cancer
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