canSAR and other Information Portals, Data, and Tools used in the fight against Cancer

canSAR is a new cancer database launched earlier this week by the U.K. Institute of Cancer Research. It contains 1.7 billion experimental results and utilizes artificial (AI) intelligence technology to discover the cancer treatments of the future.

canSAR is an integrated knowledge-base that brings together multidisciplinary data across biology, chemistry, pharmacology, structural biology, cellular networks and clinical annotations. Its goal is to further improve cancer research and drug discovery by providing free access to the knowledgebase and associated resources by researchers from across different disciplines.

According to Dr. Bissan Al-Lazikani, Team Leader in Computational Biology and Chemogenomics at the Institute of Cancer Research, the database is capable of being used for extraordinarily complex virtual experiments accessing multidisciplinary data. It can be used to help spot opportunities for future cancer treatments.

This is just the latest in a growing number of information portals, software tools, and databases now available to researchers, patients, healthcare providers, and academic institutions for use in the ongoing battle against cancer. For example, check out the following selected examples:

• Cancer.Org - The American Cancer Society's information portal aimed at helping people to stay well, get well, find cures, and fight back against cancer. 
• Cancer.Gov  - A portal to comprehensive cancer information for use by consumers, healthcare providers, researchers, and the academic community maintained by the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI).
• Cancer Genome Atlas – This data portal provides a platform to search, download, and analyze a range of data sets by cancer researchers.
• Give-A-Scan -  A patient-powered open access database for lung cancer research.
• HealthData.Gov - A U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) web site unleashing the power of private-sector entrepreneurs to utilize HHS data to create applications, products, services and features to improve health and health care.
• Healthfinder.Gov - A U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) web site providing information and tools to help citizens stay healthy.
• Healthy.Net - A free, online information portal providing extensive information and educational materials about Alternative Medicine and Health & Wellness resources and solutions.
• ClinicalTrials.Gov - A web-based U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) resource providing patients, family members, health care professionals, researchers, and the public with access to information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies from around the world.
• Medline Plus – A U.S. National Institutes of Health's (NIH) web site for patients and their families and friends with extensive information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues.
• Nutrition.Gov - A web site developed and maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides online access to government information on food and human nutrition.
• PatientsLikeMe – A health information sharing website for patients to share both personal stories and health data about their conditions.

Let us know about other key Cancer information portal, databases, or other resources you feel readers might want to explore.