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Aims and Objectives
The Virtual Cardio-Oncology Research Initiative (VICORI) aims to improve our understanding of the interactions between cancer and heart disease. VICORI looks at links between these two major causes of death in the UK so that patient outcomes can be improved. We do this by linking and analysing national anonymised electronic health record databases.
Study rationale
Most patients who use the NHS have more than one health condition. Both cancer and heart disease are common conditions that often co-occur together. By looking at any links between these two conditions, we hope to improve our understanding of how they interact with one another. Ultimately, we hope that improved understanding will lead to better-informed treatment decisions for future patients, resulting in enhanced health outcomes.
Use of Data
This work uses data provided by patients and collected by the NHS as part of their care and support.
Two extensive databases (NCRAS and NICOR) are being used in this study. Anonymised data from each database will be linked and analysed.
- NCRAS is the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service.
- NICOR is the National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research.
Benefits and impact
Our main focus is to bring about a fundamental change in the understanding of interactions between cancer and heart disease leading to better-informed care for future patients with co-existing diseases.
A secondary focus is to establish an accepted route for linking separate national health databases to unlock the huge potential for improving health nationally through “Big Data analysis”.
How we look after personal information
All data will be stored securely with only the necessary people having access to personal information. VICORI will not share or publish personal information with anyone. We will only report summary findings from the linked data so individual patients cannot be identified.
The aim of VICORI is to investigate the associations between cardiovascular disease and cancer. The linked data will allow us to investigate a wide range of research questions due to detailed information collected for each patient and the large numbers of patients in the registries. The results from the cardio-oncology research program will inform clinicians’ decisions regarding managing and treating patients with cardiovascular disease and cancer.
We have recently added plain English summaries to our new publications so that you can see more about the work that we have done!