PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA — The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) last week added breast cancer treatment and genetic/familial high-risk assessment to its NCCN Guidelines Navigator™ platform, broadening access to digitized, evidence-based guidance during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“The NCCN Guidelines Navigator enables health care providers to quickly find and understand the best available evidence-based options for treating each individual person,” said Crystal S. Denlinger, MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. “The intuitive flow in the NCCN Guidelines Navigator supports easier treatment decision-making based on the latest evidence and expert-consensus. We are pleased to be able to honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month by making some of our most widely used guidelines available in multiple formats, ultimately leading to better outcomes for people facing cancer and their loved ones.”
Since launching earlier this year with three topics, the interactive Navigator now spans more than a dozen, drawing from the frequently updated NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®). The format adds seamless movement, advanced search and filters, color-coded links, and direct connections to NCCN digital resources. Current Navigator topics include B-Cell Lymphomas; Bladder, Breast, Colon, Head and Neck, Kidney, Non-Small Cell Lung, Ovarian/Fallopian Tube/Primary Peritoneal, Prostate, Rectal, and Uterine cancers; Hepatocellular Carcinoma; and Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment for Breast, Ovarian, Pancreatic, and Prostate.
“The NCCN Guidelines were accessed more than 16 million times in the last calendar year overall—with the breast cancer treatment guidelines accounting for about 10 percent of that total,” said William J. Gradishar, MD, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University, Chair of the NCCN Guidelines Panel for Breast Cancer. “Breast cancer prevention, screening, and management is based on complex and rapidly evolving information, impacting millions of people worldwide. We’ve seen survival rates improve dramatically thanks to scientific advances that help health care providers match the right approach to the right person. The new NCCN Guidelines Navigator format allows us to integrate different resources for improving care into one hub for clinical guidance, patient/caregiver empowerment, and professional development.”
The Navigator also integrates NCCN Chemotherapy Order Templates (NCCN Templates®) at the point of care to standardize regimens, reduce medication errors, and help teams anticipate and manage adverse events. Users can earn CE/MOC credits in real time with an NCCN Guidelines in Practice™ subscription and can link directly to NCCN Guidelines for Patients®, which translate clinical guidance into lay language with glossaries and visuals.
Early adoption has been strong since beta testing. As one survey response noted: “The NCCN Guidelines Navigator does a great job of making the existing NCCN Guideline searchable and accessible. The search function quickly suggests relevant sections of the guideline, along with footnotes, references, and regimen information.”
NCCN plans to make its full guidelines library available in both PDF and digitized formats as the Navigator continues to expand.
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