Inventory of Cancer Guidelines: a tool to advance the guideline enterprise and improve the uptake of evidence

Abstract

The Inventory of Cancer Guidelines (ICG) was designed to mitigate challenges associated with inconsistencies in the quality of cancer guidelines, keeping guidelines current and the duplication of effort in guideline development. The ICG is a searchable database of quality-appraised guidelines in cancer control that also includes designations of guidelines in progress, those in need of an update and those currently being updated. From a clinical perspective, the majority of the completed guidelines target breast, lung, colorectal and prostate cancers, and focus on the treatment stage of the cancer continuum. There is considerable variability in guideline quality both within and across guideline developers, as measured by the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II. Quality domains of applicability and editorial independence are the guideline quality domains that score the poorest. While the ability to inform on the status of cancer control guidelines is important, the real potential of the ICG is in its ability to leverage positive change in the guideline enterprise. Pilot projects are underway to use data from the ICG to tailor audit and feedback interventions for guideline developers and to pursue collaborative updating and guideline adaptation initiatives, using the ICG as the platform from which these partnerships can evolve.

Keywords::

• cancer control
• guidelines
• inventory of cancer guidelines
• knowledge exchange
• knowledge translation
• quality appraisal