PROST8CARE Timed Text Messages around chemotherapy treatment cycles

Are you familiar with PROST8CARE ?

Mobile Commons, Sanofi US, and the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) have joined forces to create PROST8CARE™, a new text messaging program that delivers encouragement to men with advanced prostate cancer, timed to coincide with their chemotherapy treatment cycles.

PROST8CARE provides information—created by a board of oncologists and oncology nurses in partnership with PCF—to help patients and their caregivers understand their course of therapy. The text messages are designed to increase patients’ involvement—and help reinforce the information provided by their professional health care teams.



Learn more about this here.

TrialX Wins NCI’s Developer Challenge for Cancer App

Health IT Startup TrialX Wins NCI’s Developer Challenge for Cancer App

TrialX, an NYC based health IT company was declared a winner of a developer challenge organized by the National Cancer Institute for its application, Ask Dory. Ask Dory helps cancer patients find and connect with clinical trials near them effortlessly.

New York, NY, January 25, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Applied Informatics (TrialX), a New York based Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) startup was adjudged as a winner of the developer challenge on "Using Public Data for Cancer Prevention" sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. The challenge was organized by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) of HIT and managed by Health2.0 (see official HHS press release, http://1.usa.gov/AskDory). TrialX won the competition for its innovative application, "Ask Dory" that enables health consumers to find clinical trials near them and connect with trial investigators. The application was presented last week at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2012 in Maui, Hawaii.

"Ask Dory" uses an intelligent entropy based decision tree algorithm to narrow down the possible matches by leading patients through a step-by-step question answering system. “It is designed to be intuitive and easy for patients to use, unlike many other systems that require patients to fill long forms," explained Dr. Chintan Patel, the lead developer of the application.

A nice list of hematology/oncology mobile apps by @mtmdphd

Michael A. Thompson, MD, PhD, (@mtmdphd) is Medical Director, Cancer Research ProHealth Care Regional Cancer Center.

He has posted his personal list of favorite hematology/oncology mobile apps on ASCO Connection. You can read his commentary here.

Medical conference programs on a mobile app

The next time you attend a major medical conference, you'll probably get the conference program on a mobile app. I'm getting ready to travel to San Diego for the 2011 American Society of Hematology (ASH) conference Dec 10-13.

The complete Annual Meeting program is now available as a mobile app for iPhones, iPads, and Android devices.

I have the ASH conference program on my Android smartphone and my iPad.

To download, search for "ASH2011" in your device's app store. To enjoy the full benefits of the app and to avoid delays during the download process, attendees are strongly encouraged to download the app prior to their arrival at the meeting.

Get ASH updates on Twitter by following the hashtag #ASH11

Participate in this oncology mobile CME activity on QuantiaMD

I invite you to participate in this certified CME activity on QuantiaMD called "NSCLC: The Evolving Role of Molecular Markers for the Selection of First-Line Therapy." Thomas E. Stinchcombe, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Hematology/Oncology, University of North Carolina, is the presenting faculty for this certified CME activity. You can view this CME activity on your smartphone by downloading the QuantiaMD app on your mobile device and looking under "CME."

My company (Medical Communications Media) is currently developing several additional CME activities in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania. These activities will appear on QuantiaMD so stay tuned!

QuantiaMD is an online physician-to-physician learning collaborative where 1 in 6 U.S. physicians engage, share, and learn from experts and each other, free of charge. Members visit QuantiaMD daily to interact with respected experts who deliver clinically relevant, unbiased content in a concise, interactive format to fit the busy schedules of today's physicians..

WHO agency reports that mobile phones may cause brain cancer

The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer is reporting that mobile phones may increase the risk of brain cancer. The agency classified the risk of the adiofrequency electromagnetic fields as "possibly carcinogenic to humans."

Dr Jonathan Samet (University of Southern California, USA), overall Chairman of the Working Group, indicated that "the evidence, while still accumulating, is strong enough to support a conclusion and the 2B classification. The conclusion means that there could be some risk, and therefore we need to keep a close watch for a link between cell phones and cancer risk.

You can read their statement here.

ASCO Launches Mobile App for Patient Information in Oncology (Cancer.Net Mobile Application)

ASCO recently launched a mobile app for Apple smart technology (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch) based on its patient information website, Cancer.Net. 

The Cancer.Net mobile app will serve as an oncologist-approved mobile companion for patients to stay educated and informed about cancer type(s) and issues of interest, and organize important personal data often needed for doctor's visits.  The Cancer.Net app includes up-to-date guides on 120 types of cancer, with information about treating cancer, managing side effects, managing the cost of care, and living with cancer.  Interactive tools help keep track of questions to ask doctors and record voice answers, save information about prescribed medications, including photos of labels and bottles (on camera-enabled devices), and track the time and severity of symptoms and side effects.

Learn more here.

ONCOmmunity News for iPhone

ONCOmmunity.org is now available on the iPhone and iPod Touch!

* Read the latest research abstracts on your iPhone.
* Participate in ONCOmmunity discussions. Ask questions of your peers.
* Save abstracts for later review.
* Once downloaded, you can read abstracts offline.
* Search our entire research library.
* Works with iPhone and iPod Touch (iOS4 tested).

Click here for more information.

Vinegar and smartphone camera used to screen for cervical cancer

There's a story about Carrie Kovarick, an assistant professor of dermatology and a member of the Penn-Botswana program, using some vinegar and a smartphone camera to screen women for cervical cancer. Consider this a pilot project involving mHealth, telemedicine, and software supplied by ClickDiagnostics.

When vinegar is applied to the cervix, pre-cancerous cells dehydrate faster and turn white. A photo of the cervix can be viewed by clinical experts who can identify suspicious areas on the cervix.

ClickDiagnostics is involved in a number of global health initiatives.

The Oncologist App (for Apple iPhone, iPod touch, iPad)

Access The Oncologist App from your mobile device! This free app allows you to read or listen to the current issue and watch video lectures on the go.

Available for free, The Oncologist App and eJournal

Learn more here:
http://theoncologistcommunity.com/multi-media/the-oncologist-app

NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for iPhone and Android

Access the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines™) anywhere and at anytime through free NCCN Guidelines mobile apps for iPhone and Android.

Recent data continues to indicate that clinicians are increasingly using smartphones to access medical information and bring faster, more informed decision-making to the point of care.

These new NCCN apps enable clinicians to easily access the NCCN Guidelines, which are updated on a continual basis and developed through an explicit review of the evidence integrated with expert medical judgment and recommendations by multidisciplinary panels from NCCN Member Institutions.

The NCCN Guidelines apps for iPhone and Android are free to download through the iTunes Store and Android Market. To use the NCCN Guidelines apps, an individual must be a registered user on NCCN.org. There is no fee to become a registered user on NCCN.org and to view the NCCN Guidelines.

Visit NCCN.org/mobile

Android Market Bar Code for Installation

Novartis Oncology Medical Information (Mobile)

There's a nice free medical app for oncology professionals that allows you to access Novartis Oncology Medical Information. They have apps for the iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry.  You can search for medical information and even submit a medical query.

Click here to learn more. (you have to be a licensed health care professional to access Novartis Oncology Medical Information.

CCO Oncology inPractice

The Clinical Care Options (CCO) Oncology inPractice application for iPad is a comprehensive digital textbook designed for healthcare professionals needing to find information rapidly at the point of care.

CCO inPractice provides the busy clinician timely information authored by experts in hematology and oncology. The textbook content is accessible by either browsing or online searching and is regularly updated to reflect new data, making inPractice a practical resource that is always current. A CCO inPractice search delivers the textbook content you need to make clinical decisions alongside comprehensive drug information for all US Food and Drug Administration–approved drugs using the Lexi-Comp database, PubMed abstracts for review of the primary literature, links to management guidelines for quick review of best practices, and the ability to link to the CCO inPractice Web site to claim Point of Care CME credit for searches made from your iPad.

Features:
Search 4 resources simultaneously
• Original hematology and oncology textbook, authored by experts specifically for inPractice
• Drug database by Lexi-Comp
• PubMed abstracts
• Management guidelines
Share information with community consults, colleagues, and fellows
Bookmark content for further review
Claim Point of Care CME credit for your personal searches

Click here to learn more.

Smartphone use in the world of oncology

How are oncologists using smartphones? Let's take a look at an article on CancerNetwork.com titled, "Smartphones hustle to maintain pace with rapid rate of change in oncology."

Here are some snippets from that story:

"Oncology is one of the few fields in medicine where things are changing at a very rapid pace, with protocols and drug regimens and research actually changing day to day the way you treat your patients," said Tom Giannulli, MD, chief medical information officer for Epocrates. "In that group of physicians, keeping in touch is a much higher priority than for your average family practitioner with respect to researching new developments."

More than 40% of oncologists reported avoiding at least two errors per week with Epocrates products, according to a recent survey by Epocrates. Forty-seven percent reported saving 20 minutes or more per day by reaching into their pockets rather than going to their desks to look up information.

"Mobile devices have quickly become a preferred vehicle for physicians to access clinical information due to their ease of use and inherent portability," added Dr. D'Amico, who is also director of clinical oncology at Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center in Durham, N.C.

Wafik S. El-Deiry, MD, PhD, chief of hematology/oncology at Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute in Hershey, said he uses Twitter to tell colleagues about advances in genetics and therapies related to cancer.

Given that the field of oncology is always evolving with new targeted therapies and treatment options, it's an area where smartphones will truly benefit clinicians who are caring for patients. I wonder how many smartphone-related abstracts will be presented at ASCO next year.

GlaxoSmithKline and MedTrust Online launch an oncology clinical trials iPhone app

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and MedTrust Online (an online physician portal) have launched a geolocating iPhone app that lets docs look up cancer clinical trials for their patients. Here are a few snippets from a June 4 press release:

With CancerTrials App, cancer doctors can easily find and share information about experimental therapies in clinical trials with their patients.  CancerTrials App provides a quick search menu based on 12 common cancers and more advanced features that refine searches based on criteria such as gender, age, trial status and more.  Once relevant trials are found, results can be mapped relative to the location of the iPhone or iPad running the application.

"GSK Oncology has always been interested in providing doctors and their patients with the access to the right information about the best therapies that improve patient outcomes," stated Jeffrey Bloss, M.D., Vice President, Medicine Development Leader for GSK Oncology.  "We are pleased to work with MedTrust Online to bring simple yet highly effective information-based solutions to the cancer community."

CancerTrials App is the first release of a mobile application for several platforms that connects to MedTrust Online's proprietary databases of oncology information at www.oncocentric.com.  Solutions for RIM's BlackBerry and Google's Android operating systems will be released over the next several months.  Oncologists using mobile communication devices will be able to share more with their patients as they search for the best therapies available in their communities.

About MedTrust Online, LLC
MedTrust Online LLC, www.medtrust-online.com, provides oncologists with clinically useful technology applications and solutions. MedTrust Online brings together experts in oncology, information technology, computational biology, pharmaceutical drug development, and personalized medicine to capture, organize, analyze, integrate and present the most up-to-date medical facts from a vast array of sources. This data is provided to doctors in a comprehensive yet concise way at www.oncocentric.com.