Applying the Minimal Common Oncology Data Elements (mCODE) to the Asia-Pacific Region

摘要

We applaud the Minimal Common Oncology Data Elements (mCODE) Initiative described byOstermanetal1 earlier in this Journal. We agree that mCODE has the potential to benefit cancer care delivery and research by improving data interoperability. Applying mCODEtothe Asia-Pacific region might greatly extend its impact and benefit to two thirds of the world's population. Asian ethnicity is underrepresented in pivotal clinical trials,2 but the Asia-Pacific region has relatively higher proportion of cancer cases and deaths,3 making observational studies an important and urgent supplemental source of evidence. There has been a successful case of applying an observational data model originally developed in the United States to the Asia-Pacific region for multinational database analysis4 This gives us confidence in the future of mCODE in Asia-Pacific. In this letter, we discuss the applicability of mCODE in Asia-Pacific with regard to the completeness of data elements and the usability of coding systems.