%0 Journal Article
%T The Brustkrebs-Studien.de website for breast cancer patients: User acceptance of a German internet portal offering information on the disease and treatment options, and a clinical trials matching service
%A Markus Wallwiener
%A Christian W Wallwiener
%A Sara Y Brucker
%A Andreas D Hartkopf
%A Tanja N Fehm
%A Julia K Kansy
%J BMC Cancer
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2407-10-663
%X Existing registries, including ClinicalTrials.gov, were analysed before we designed BKS, which combines a trial registry, a knowledge portal, and an online second opinion service. An advisory board guided the process. Log files and patient enquiries for trial participation and second opinions were analysed. A two-week user satisfaction survey was conducted online.During 10/2005-06/2010, the portal attracted 702,655 visitors, generating 15,507,454 page views. By 06/2010, the website's active scientific community consisted of 189 investigators and physicians, and the registry covered 163 clinical trial protocols. In 2009, 143 patients requested trial enrolment and 119 sought second opinions or individual treatment advice from the expert panel. During the two-week survey in 2008, 5,702 BKS visitors submitted 507 evaluable questionnaires. Portal acceptance was high. Respondents trusted information correctness (80%), welcomed self-matching to clinical trials (79%) and planned to use the portal in the future (76%) and recommend it to others (81%).BKS is an established and trusted breast cancer information platform offering up-to-date resources and protocols to the growing physician and patient community to encourage participation in clinical trials. Further studies are needed to assess potential increases in trial enrolment by eligibility matching services.Breast cancer is the most common female malignancy in Germany and worldwide, and its prevalence is predicted to increase [1]. Growing numbers of clinical trials are being conducted to collect the information needed to provide patients with tailored treatments, and the guidelines for certified breast centres in Germany require that 20% of all treated patients be enrolled in clinical trials [2]. However, trial recruitment is difficult, expensive and time-consuming [3]. In the everyday clinical setting, physicians recruit fewer than half of the potentially eligible patients into clinical trials [4]. Major factors preventin
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/10/663