IO-CORE
Mission
To establish the value of Interventional Oncology through large-scale prospective collection of clinical data, guided by principles of multinational representation, collaborative partnerships, and scientific integrity.
Rationale
Interventional Oncologists care for patients before, during and after performing innovative, minimally invasive, image-guided therapies to improve cancer outcomes and quality of life. However, the evidence to support best practice indications, techniques and follow-up care in IO is often limited and retrospective in nature. High quality, large-scale, prospective studies reflecting multi-institutional and multi-national IR practices are lacking. While controlled clinical trials offer the highest level of evidence to guide practice, such trials are often not feasible or pragmatic in interventional oncology. Limited case volume, disease heterogeneity, multiple competing treatment strategies, and the sequencing of multidisciplinary care plans over the trajectory of a disease are all obstacles to design and accrual of controlled trials of any specific intervention.
There are a few industry-sponsored registries providing insight into an individual drug or device, but these do not offer a holistic view of disease management and outcomes integrating all therapeutic strategies within interventional oncology.
A Global Registry
A Global Interventional Oncology Clinical Outcomes Registry (IO-CORE) will be established for the collection of clinical evidence in interventional oncology. This alliance will involve leadership representing geographic regions including the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific to provide scientific oversight, establish priority areas for investigation, and ensure data integrity. It will include representative leadership for each major disease domain and establish guidelines for clinical registry platform creation, participation agreements, data transmission and storage. It will also provide project oversight with the formation of a stakeholder advisory board.
