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About this site

About this guide

Background and Aims and Objectives
History of the Site
About the Author
Funding
Awards to this Web site

Background and Aims and Objectives

There are now millions (probably tens of millions) of cancer-related pages on the Internet, so finding appropriate information about specific topics can be a real problem. Therefore the aim of "Guide to Internet Resources for Cancer" is to make it easier to find more specific information quickly. This is achieved by providing an directory of some of the key cancer-related sites and pages. Links are sorted into categories (by disease-type, medical speciality country etc.), and where possible annotation is provided to give the reader a brief description of each site / organisation. As well as links the site presents basic information about cancer-related topics. Also, the site aims to draw the readers attention to issues about cancer-related information on the Internet, especially those relating to the quality of information.

The site includes information that will be of interest to a spectrum of different users; including patients and their relatives, caregivers, health professionals, basic scientists, and others interested in cancer. For the readers convenience sites which are intended exclusively for health professionals are labelled as such.

The site is broadly inclusive, though sites about alternative treatments are beyond the scope of the guide. For more details see the criteria for inclusion. The site welcomes suggestions for cancer-related sites from around the world, and a form to submit a site is provided. Comments about the site, and suggestions for how the site can be improved are encouraged using the feedback form.

To avoid a single flat list of links a database was designed so that links can be put into multiple categories - for example "The Leukaemia Research Fund" site can be found under i) diseases-leukaemia, ii) national organisations, and iii) country-UK. The database generates the Web pages so that the guide can easily be updated in a standardised format. Hyperlinks are periodically verified using a links checker.

History of the Site

The web pages began life in early 1996 as a simple list of links on my personal home page set up to aid my research. Without promoting it I soon began to get feedback from others who said that they found it useful (particularly for finding information about childhood cancers which was hard to find at that time). As the list grew it needed organising; so over a couple of intensive insomniac nights sat in front of my home computer I developed a database of links and wrote a program to generate the web page. As the number of links grew the single page was split into two pages; one about childhood cancer and the other about adult cancers. In turn these grew and became Children’s Cancer Web and Guide to Internet Resources for Cancer. For a time the site was then made part of the University of Newcastle Department of Child Health Web site in which I was also involved with. Finaly the site has moved to the www.cancerindex.org domain, which I fund and maintain on a voluntary basis.

About the Author

Hello, my name is Simon Cotterill, I worked in cancer research from 1989 to 2001 working in clinical trials, statistics and childhood cancer epidemiology, my qualifications are non-medical. I have over 25 publications about childhood cancer published in peer reviewed journals. Cancer research remains a personal interest to me, and like too many others, I've have relatives and friends affected by and lost to cancer. This database and guide has been developed in my personal time, any mistakes in this guide are entirely my own.

I hope you find this guide useful, any constructive criticisms would be much appreciated: please use the feedback form

Disclaimer:

This guide has been written for educational purposes only, it can not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or a disease. If you have or suspect you may have a health problem, you should consult your doctor. No responsibility can be accepted for information on any linked page, please read the provider's own disclaimer where appropriate.

Funding

The Web sites at www.cancerindex.org have been personally funded by Simon Cotterill (ongoing domain name registration, site hosting costs, etc). The sites have no other source of funding or sponsorship.

Some Awards to this Web Site:

Hardin MD Clean Bill of Health Mental Health Net 3 Star Award for Excellence Growth House 4 Star Award Med 411 Award
Argos Clearinghouse approved HealthAtoZ 4 Star Award Britannica Internet Award

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Disclaimer: This site is for educational purposes only; it can not be used in diagnosis or treatment.
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