ASCO, American Cancer Society partner to improve access to credible information online
CHICAGO — ASCO and American Cancer Society will collaborate to make it easier for patients and their caregivers to find credible cancer information online.
The effort is intended to establish one of the largest, most comprehensive online sources of authoritative cancer information.
Content will be available for free on the American Cancer Society (ACS) website, cancer.org. ASCO’s cancer.net, an online platform through which oncology professionals provide information to patients and their families, will be retired in early June. Visitors to that site will be redirected to the new online resource.
"As part of the ACS goal to end cancer as we know it, for everyone, it is essential that we increase access to trusted and up-to-date information on cancer prevention, detection and treatment,” Karen E. Knudsen, MBA, PhD, CEO of American Cancer Society and ACS Cancer Action Network, said in a press release. “The ACS-ASCO collaboration will achieve just that and enhance the depth and breadth of information available to [people with cancer] and their families.”
The ASCO-ACS collaboration on this effort is in response to a key challenge established by the Cancer Moonshot initiative, which is to reduce duplication and increase efficiencies to benefit people with cancer.
The potential of this online resource to promote stronger health literacy and improve access to credible, informative content will benefit patients, their family members and their caregivers at every point of the cancer journey, according to representatives of both organizations.
“At ASCO, our members see every day how confusing and painful it can be for too many patients and families as they try to make sense of cancer information while they’re navigating a diagnosis and treatment,” Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, FASCO, CEO of ASCO, said in the release. “This expanded partnership with ACS will improve our ability to get engaging and easy-to-understand cancer information in front of many more patients and their families, right when they need it most.”