The event — organised by Centre for Development of Advance Computing (C-DAC) in collaboration with Cancer - Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG), USA — was inaugurated on Wednesday by Ashok Kolaskar, advisor, National Knowledge Commission.

In his inaugural speech, Kolaskar called for a web platform for clinicians and technical experts where clinicians could pose open questions in Oncology. “We also need improved data mining tools for knowledge extraction,” he said.

The meet is a beginning towards exchange of information and knowledge to look for technology-enabled care for cancer patients in the country, said Dr Kenneth Buetow, Director, Centre for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (CBIIT), USA in his keynote speech.

The cancer grid was initiated in USA a decade ago, which was followed by UK and China. India decided to participate in the grid a couple of years ago. Kerala was the first state in India to undertake ‘OncoNet Kerala’ in 2003, which is used for patients’ registration and follow-ups. It also enables patients to have tele consultation with specialised doctor of their choice at the Regional Cancer Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, also with the help of C-DAC.

The central government has now decided to replicate it in the country calling it as ‘OncoNet India’, Ramakrishnan said. He added that around 25 Regional Cancer Centres (RCC) have been identified for the purpose, broadly one in each state, that will network with 128 other centres in the country. A RCC is a premium hospital with facilities for oncology practitioners and researchers.