Purpose: To report the experience with AdOnco, a computerized database for head and neck cancer patients.
Patients and methods: AdOnco is a Filemaker Pro 6.0 based database integrated into the local network of the host ENT department. It is used by the physicians as a clinical and scientific documentation system to store and retrieve information about all patients with head and neck cancer referred to the host oncology center. This study reviews the achievements to date of AdOnco and, as an example of its enormous data evaluation potential, presents survival curves of patients with laryngeal cancer undergoing laser resection.
Results: Over a period of six years, the data of 881 patients with head and neck cancer were entered into the AdOnco database.
Conclusion: AdOnco has proven to be a useful patient database and documentation system which has become an integral and essential part of daily clinical routine and also a valuable research tool.