Comparison

CTCAE v4.0 vs ASTCT Practice Guidelines

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

CTCAE v4.0

This medical reference app provides a standardized system for grading the severity of adverse events related to drug treatments or medical devices. It offers hierarchical navigation, bookmarking, and search functionality for quick access to definitions and grading standards.

Highlights
  • Standardized adverse event grading system
  • Definitions for event severity (grades 1-5)
  • Hierarchical navigation of categories
  • Bookmark frequently used events
  • Search across names, definitions, and grades
Features
Read full description

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) is a standardized system to quantify or grade the severity of adverse events (AE) that occur with drug treatment or from medical devices. A definition of mild (grade 1), moderate (2), severe (3), life-threatening (4) and death related to AE (5) events is provided for each AE term. The CTCAE v4.02 was published by NCI on October 6, 2009, and is used by many healthcare providers and researchers to characterize adverse events consistently. The Center for Biomedical Informatics (CBMi) at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has converted the 190+ pages of the CTCAE v4.02 document into an intuitive iPhone application. With this application, healthcare providers can reference the full CTCAE v4.02 with an iPhone or iPod Touch, allowing for bedside grading at the time of a visit and generally allowing the information to be accessed from anywhere at any time. The application contains all published grading standards for all 26 categories of adverse events as well as event definitions. The application also offers a variety of advantages over the flat file CTCAE v4.02, including: * Hierarchical navigation of adverse event categories * Ability to bookmark adverse events and categories to quickly access frequently graded events * Search for events across names, definitions and grades This application is one example of the many ways in which CBMi helps transform clinical care and research at our institution and across the industry. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is a non-profit entity as defined by Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 460-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu. About The Center for Biomedical Informatics: The Center for Biomedical Informatics (CBMi) resides in The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute as the home for development of innovative solutions to healthcare's immediate and long-term informatics needs. We provide informatics-focused services, products, and educational programs to Children's Hospital clinicians and researchers and seek to transform their craft with high-impact, low-cost solutions. For more information, visit http://www.research.chop.edu/cbmi. References: Please note that NCI has directed us to use the May 29, 2009 reference without regard to updates. Our app uses the most updated version of the CTCAE despite our reference to the original. National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v4.0 NCI, NIH, DHHS. May 29, 2009 NIH publication # 09-7473

About

ASTCT Practice Guidelines

Access up-to-date practice guidelines, evidence-based reviews, and clinical calculators for blood, bone marrow transplantation, and cellular therapies. Developed by experts, this app aids clinical decision-making with immediate access to crucial information.

Highlights
  • Practice guidelines
  • Evidence-based reviews
  • Clinical calculators
  • HCT patient tools
  • Expert-developed content
  • Detailed references
Features
Read full description

ASTCT practice guidelines and clinical calculators for blood and bone marrow transplantation, and cellular therapies. The ASTCT Practice Guidelines application provides up to date access to practice guidelines, evidence-based reviews and position statements from the ASTCT Committee on Practice Guidelines. These documents are developed and updated by leading experts in the field of blood and bone marrow transplantation and cellular therapy. In addition the app includes clinical calculators relevant to HCT patients. These tools will allow immediate access to information that can help guide clinical decision making. Topics covered include: • General guidelines • Conditioning regimens • Stem cell collection and mobilization • Graft-Versus-Host disease • HCT for Malignant and non-Malignant Hematologic Diseases, including pediatric and adult patients • Supportive Care • Survivorship Detailed references and full access to source papers is also provided. The American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) is an international professional membership association of physicians, investigators and other health care professionals, dedicated to improving the application and success of blood and marrow transplantation and related cellular therapies.

Screenshots

CTCAE v4.01 screens
ASTCT Practice Guidelines4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: ASTCT Practice Guidelines at 100% against CTCAE v4.0's 17%. ASTCT Practice Guidelines also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.5) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 44 months). CTCAE v4.0's advantage is iOS requirement (9.2 vs 15.0). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ASTCT Practice Guidelines holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 4 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 17% of CTCAE v4.0's written reviews are positive against 100% of ASTCT Practice Guidelines's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CTCAE v4.0 ships an update every 44 months, ASTCT Practice Guidelines every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
CTCAE v4.0 versus ASTCT Practice Guidelines: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCTCAE v4.0ASTCT Practice Guidelines
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (11 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews16.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings11 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 44 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS9.2 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB107 MB
Age rating12+17+
DeveloperThe Children's Hospital of PhiladelphiaASBMT

Customer experience

CTCAE v4.0

All ratings11 ratings
Positive45.5%
Neutral36.4%
Negative18.2%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive16.7%
Neutral50.0%
Negative33.3%

ASTCT Practice Guidelines

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

CTCAE v4.0

No in-app purchases

None

ASTCT Practice Guidelines

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CTCAE v4.0 free?
CTCAE v4.0 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ASTCT Practice Guidelines free?
ASTCT Practice Guidelines is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, CTCAE v4.0 or ASTCT Practice Guidelines?
ASTCT Practice Guidelines is rated higher. CTCAE v4.0 averages 3.5 out of 5 from 11 ratings, while ASTCT Practice Guidelines averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do CTCAE v4.0 or ASTCT Practice Guidelines have ads?
Neither CTCAE v4.0 nor ASTCT Practice Guidelines shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CTCAE v4.0 or ASTCT Practice Guidelines?
CTCAE v4.0 ships an update every 44 months, and ASTCT Practice Guidelines every 2 months. Most recently, CTCAE v4.0 was updated on September 24, 2026 and ASTCT Practice Guidelines on October 13, 2026.

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