Online science software helps oncology experts collaborate

Cancer research could be set to benefit from the creation of online science software as part of a new community that allows oncology professionals worldwide to collaborate.

The brainchild of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), Oncology Professional Resources Online (OncologyPRO) is a social network-style science software environment.

It brings together the latest findings in global research into cancer detection, prevention and cure in a single accessible web-based resource for healthcare practitioners to access.

ESMO chief executive officer Alan Howard says: "OncologyPRO provides a variety of services, far beyond the level of service an individual society could provide."

The new resource is due to go online in 2011, but is not the first use of social networking that the ESMO has made.

Its previous ventures into the world of Web 2.0 include the creation of a previous professional collaboration environment named myESMO, bringing together individuals in countries in different parts of the world.