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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Digit. Health

Sec. Health Technology Implementation

Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2025.1530321

This article is part of the Research Topic The Future of Oncology: Digital Twins and Precision Cancer Care View all 3 articles

DATA 5.0 -Data Acquisition, Translation & Analysis -A prospective urooncological data warehouse for the 21 st century

Provisionally accepted
Viktoria Schütz Viktoria Schütz 1*Christine Geisler Christine Geisler 1Mathias Rath Mathias Rath 1Sarah Heike Böning Sarah Heike Böning 2Thomas Treber Thomas Treber 3Albrecht Stenzinger Albrecht Stenzinger 4Alexander Brobeil Alexander Brobeil 4Oliver Reinhard Oliver Reinhard 3Anette Duensing Anette Duensing 1,5Stefan Duensing Stefan Duensing 1,2Markus Hohenfellner Markus Hohenfellner 1Magdalena Görtz Magdalena Görtz 1
  • 1 Department of Urology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
  • 2 Molecular Urooncology, Department of Urology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
  • 3 Center for Digitalization and Information Technology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
  • 4 Institute of Pathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
  • 5 Precision Oncology of Urological Malignancies, Department of Urology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Prospective data registration is the basis of clinical oncological research. Commonly, case documentation is restricted to studies investigating a defined hypothesis. Only few institutions prospectively register all oncological patients with a reliable, sustainable and continuous follow-up infrastructure. The Department of Urology of the Heidelberg University Hospital started it’s prospective tumor data base in 1992. Since then, the clinical course of all oncological in-patients is continuously registered within a life-long follow-up (success rate: 93%). Associated tumor tissue is stored in the Heidelberg Biobank. In 2005, the transfer of this invaluable registry from the initial InterSystemsCache®/KRAZTUR system to a modern data warehouse was initiated. However, the transfer of existing data into a new environment proofed to be technically challenging.Objective: To migrate the existing data into a modern data warehouse (DATA 5.0) while maintaining data extraction functions. Additional requirements included FHIR connectivity, big data analyses and AI applications. Methods: Together with SAP SE, DATA 5.0 was developed. Based on SAP HANA (High Performance Analytic Appliance) it allows data registration and analysis with third party analytical tools. The project was supported by members of the SAP SE executive board and funded by the Dietmar Hopp Foundation.Results: Data Acquisition, Translation & Analysis 5.0 (DATA 5.0), a web-based tool for data registration, preservation and analysis of treatment and follow-up data, was developed to proof-of-concept stage. DATA 5.0 was then implemented into clinical practice replacing the previous system. As of today, 15,345 oncological patients and 6.7 Mio. data points are registered. Conclusion: Prospective long-term data was successfully migrated into DATA 5.0, allowing data preservation, flexibility and capabilities for future data sources. DATA 5.0, together with associated tumor tissue, is a lighthouse platform for oncological research, with capability for third party analytical tools, big data analysis and AI applications including training of digital twin models.

    Keywords: Medical data base, tumor database, Urological tumors, Data warehouse, big data analysis, Individualized cancer treatment, prospective data acquisition, biobanks

    Received: 18 Nov 2024; Accepted: 05 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Schütz, Geisler, Rath, Böning, Treber, Stenzinger, Brobeil, Reinhard, Duensing, Duensing, Hohenfellner and Görtz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Viktoria Schütz, Department of Urology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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