Using Intelligent Data Analysis in Cancer Care: Benefits and Challenges

Abstract

Access to accurate, comprehensive, and timely relevant cancer data for study the causes of cancer, detect cancer earlier, prevent or determine the effectiveness of treatment, specify the reasons for the treatment ineffectiveness, and cancer control programs is necessary. Physicians find it difficult to make accurate decisions when overwhelmed with hundreds of data. Intelligent data analysis (IDA) has benefits in different types of cancer for physicians, patient such as: cancer detection, classification of cancer, prediction of clinical outcome of patients after cancer surgery, prediction of survival in types of cancer and has advantages for managers, policymakers and researchers like benefits in epidemiology and assess healthcare resource utilization. Intelligent data analysis because of diversity of health data and specific circumstances of health domain confront enormous challenges. Lack of physician’s trust on facts that generated by software, limits the number of disease-related data , lack of electronic guidelines and expert system that helps to physician in decision making, difficulties in mining methodology, user interaction, and efficiency and scalability areas are some of these challenges. IDA with potential benefits definitely have significant role in improve cancer care, prevention, treatment, increase speed and accuracy in diagnosis and treatment, reduce costs, clinical outcomes assessment, design and implementation of clinical guidelines. The aim of this review article is to survey application, opportunities and barriers of intelligent data analysis as an approach to improve cancer care management.