Information systems for cancer research.

The last decade has seen a massive growth in data for cancer research, with high-throughput technologies joining clinical trials as major drivers of informatics needs. These data provide opportunities for developing new cancer treatments, but also major challenges for informatics, and we summarize the systems needed and potential issues arising in addressing these challenges. Integrating these data into the research enterprise will require investments in (1) data capture and management, (2) data analysis, (3) data integration standards, (4) visualization tools, and (5) methods for integration with other enterprise systems.