The Ministry of Health and Welfare, the National Cancer Center, and the Korea Health Information Service announced on the 19th that starting from the 20th, the 'K-CURE' cancer public library, which combines cancer patient data held by the government and public institutions, will be officially opened to researchers in academia and industry.
The K-CURE cancer public library is led by the National Cancer Center and combines ▲Statistics Korea mortality data ▲Central Cancer Registry cancer registration data ▲National Health Insurance Service qualification and screening information ▲Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service medical usage claims data. It is a big data set of 1.98 million cancer patients registered from 2012 to 2019, including full-cycle data of cancer patients from before diagnosis to death.
The National Cancer Center receives applications for data use through the K-CURE portal and reviews the research purpose and appropriateness of pseudonymization, while the Korea Health Information Service supports linkage to the Safe Utilization Center, a closed analysis space, to enable safe analysis of the cancer public library data.
Through the cancer public library, researchers are expected to reduce the time and cost required to apply for and combine public data from multiple institutions. It can be used for research on cancer patient diagnosis, treatment, and technology development while protecting patient personal information through a secure analysis environment.
Eun Seong-ho, Director of Advanced Medical Support at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, "The cancer public library is highly valuable for research as it comprehensively covers information throughout the entire life cycle of cancer patients." He added, "It is expected to greatly enhance public health by being utilized in in-depth cancer conquest research such as prognosis diagnosis and complication prediction, as well as healthcare service development."
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