Diagnoses, treatment patterns and outcomes of cancer patients with various malignancies - a registry based on routinely collected data (PAN-CANCER 1)

The Department of Medical Oncology at the University Hospital Basel, a leading oncology center in Switzerland, is addressing the complexity of clinical decision-making in cancer care, exacerbated by rapid advancements in tumor biology and treatment strategies. The integration of modern information technologies is seen as critical in transforming practices into learning health care systems (LHS), which continuously improve through data analysis and knowledge integration.

This registry aims to analyze the patterns of diagnoses, treatment recommendations, and patient outcomes to inform and enhance clinical decision-making and care quality. Specific endpoints include the frequency and proportion of cancer diagnoses and stages, types of diagnostics and treatments recommended by multidisciplinary tumor boards, treatment protocols, and patient-reported outcomes (PROMs), including quality of life, symptom management, and survival rates.

This observational cohort study collects both retrospective and prospective data from patients seen at the Medical Oncology unit between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2025. It includes all patients meeting the inclusion criteria of having a diagnosis of malignant disease, an encounter within the specified date range, and aged 18 years or older.

Data will be gathered from existing clinical information systems such as ISMED, Clinical Dashboard, Pathology, Radiology, and CATO, with a focus on achieving high standardization using oncotree codes for diagnoses and SNOMED CT for clinical details.

The registry will use a combination of descriptive statistics to summarize patient demographics, disease characteristics, and treatments. Time-to-event analyses for outcomes like survival and disease progression will be performed using Kaplan-Meier and cumulative incidence functions.

Data will be managed using RedCap software, with stringent data protection measures in place to ensure confidentiality and security. Data collection will adhere to ethical standards set by the Human Research Act (HFG) and its ordinance (HFV).

All data will be collected as part of routine clinical processes, with additional approvals by the ethics committee for future research uses. The project will adhere to data protection laws and ethical guidelines, with a focus on minimizing risks associated with de-identification.

This registry is pivotal in establishing a structured data collection framework that supports a learning health care system, aiming to enhance the quality of cancer care and education within the Department of Medical Oncology at the University Hospital Basel.