Breast Cancer Answers is an innovative pilot project for dissemination of breast cancer and clinical trials information using the Information Superhighway. It will offer cancer patients and their families, the general public, and health professionals access to an interactive, quality controlled, breast cancer information service via the World Wide Web (WWW). Currently, there are numerous breast cancer resources available to the public and health professionals, including the NCI-funded Cancer Information Service (CIS). Computer-based programs are the fastest growing segment. Using electronic mail, electronic bulletin boards, Gopher Servers and the WWW, a great deal of breast cancer information is now available to computer users. Unfortunately, no quality control exists for E-mail messages posted to electronic bulletin boards. This project combines the well-documented strengths of the CIS (up-to-date information, peer review, community resources, access to experts, quality control) with the latest information dissemination techniques. CIS Region 11 will serve as a pilot site for the new computer-based breast cancer information service, which unlike current computer-based resources, will be an active rather than passive service. An Electronic Mailbox and WWW Server will be established. Users will post requests for information and trained Cancer Information Specialists will respond electronically. Staff will utilize current print and electronic databases, including the NCI- supported PDQ. Quality assurance will be monitored through a response review system, similar to that used by CIS. Breast Cancer Answers will also include services on breast cancer clinical trials, commonly asked breast cancer questions, and pointers to WWW breast cancer resources. Clinical trials will feature a specialized forms interface to capture eligibility criteria to facilitate PDQ searches for patients and permit physicians to directly obtain information about regional clinical trials. Questions most commonly E-mailed to the service will be cataloged, and the question and answer posted in the Q & A home page. The resource home page will provide pointers to existing breast cancer information resources on the Internet, such as NIH publications, fact sheets and support groups. Breast Cancer Answers will be publicized using existing on-line bulletin boards, user groups, World Wide Web indexes (e.g. Medical Matrix, Yahoo). Special outreach activities will be developed to recruit users from minority groups and high risk populations. Effectiveness will be assessed by: monitoring usage through GETSTAT, which tabulates computer accesses to the system including date, time and location; user evaluation form to assess whether information needs were met; referrals to CIS as documented through their Call Record Form system.
