title: Organizing a breast cancer database: data management.
abstract: Developing and organizing a breast cancer database can provide data and serve as valuable research tools for those interested in the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Depending on the research setting, the quality of the data can be a major issue. Assuring that the data collection process does not contribute inaccuracies can help to assure the overall quality of subsequent analyses. Data management is work that involves the planning, development, implementation, and administration of systems for the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of data while protecting it by implementing high security levels. A properly designed database provides you with access to up-to-date, accurate information. Database design is an important component of application design. If you take the time to design your databases properly, you'll be rewarded with a solid application foundation on which you can build the rest of your application.
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. myi@mdanderson.org.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Kelly K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Hunt
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003628:Database Management Systems; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans
keywords: Breast cancer; data management; database