NCCN Guidelines® vs ESMO Interactive Guidelines

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®), is pleased to present the Virtual Library of NCCN Guidelines® app formatted for iPhone & iPad. This easy-to-use and convenient format will further assist health care professionals in their implementation of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®), thus improving the quality and effectiveness of care provided to patients with cancer. NCCN is a not-for-profit alliance of leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education. NCCN is dedicated to improving and facilitating quality, effective, efficient, and accessible cancer care so patients can live better lives. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. By defining and advancing high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers around the world. Over the past 25 years, NCCN has developed an integrated suite of tools to improve the quality of cancer care. The NCCN Guidelines® document evidence-based, consensus-driven management to ensure that all patients receive preventive, diagnostic, treatment, and supportive services that are most likely to lead to optimal outcomes. The NCCN Guidelines are a comprehensive set of guidelines detailing the sequential management decisions and interventions that apply to 97 percent of cancer cases in the United States. In addition, separate guidelines relate to major prevention and screening topics and another set of pathways focuses on the major supportive care areas. The NCCN Guidelines provide recommendations based on the best evidence available at the time they are derived. Because new data are published continuously, it is essential that the NCCN Guidelines also be continuously updated and revised to reflect new data and new clinical information. The intent of the NCCN Guidelines is to assist in the decision-making process of individuals involved in cancer care—including physicians, nurses, pharmacists, payers, patients and their families—with the ultimate goal of improving patient care and outcomes. The NCCN Guidelines provide recommendations for appropriate care for most but not all patients; however, individual patient circumstances must be considered when applying these recommendations. Visit NCCN.org to learn more about the NCCN Guidelines as well as other NCCN Content.

The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) guidelines are developed by experts. They are concise, practical and offer users treatment recommendations that are based on the latest scientific research. This application uses interactive tools to support decision making and help the user navigate the guidelines easily, so they can access the information they require quickly. Each guideline offers best practice recommendations for screening, diagnosis, staging, treatment and follow up. The ESMO Interactive Guidelines application ensures the user has the highest standard of information at their figure tips. A variety of interactive treatment algorithms, tables, calculators and scores can be utilised to assist the treating doctor. The user can also perform key word searches, bookmark useful pages, add notes and email pages to colleagues or patients. The app features news and push notifications. Disclaimer: The app is intended to assist healthcare professionals and allied healthcare professionals as an educational tool to provide information that may support them in providing care to patients. Patients or other community members using this app shall do so only after consultation with a health professional and shall not mistake these guidelines as professional medical advice. These guidelines must not substitute seeking professional medical and health advice from a health professional. These guidelines may not apply to all situations and shall be interpreted in the light of specific clinical situations and resource availability. It is up to every clinician to adapt these guidelines to local regulations and to each patient’s individual circumstances and needs. The app contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources (http://www.esmo.org). Although every effort has been made to ensure that treatment and other information are presented accurately in this publication, the ultimate responsibility rests with the prescribing physician.This application is updated regularly with more tumour types, guidelines and interactive tools.