OncoLink®, a free cancer information website developed by experts at the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center has launched a redesigned website based on the search habits and feedback from patients, caregivers and health care providers who use the site. Enhanced, interactive features provide access the most up-to-date information on cancers of all kinds, and allows users to develop personalized survivorship plans, and review the latest cancer research more easily.

The redesign comes just in time for the 18th anniversary of the site, which was the Internet's first cancer information resource. OncoLink's designers and a team of dedicated nurses and physicians implemented a new navigation system to make it easier for both patients and healthcare providers to rapidly locate the information they're seeking. Using a new "slide show" feature, any user searching for information — whether they are newly diagnosed with a specific disease, are curious about their cancer risk, are currently receiving treatment, or are a cancer survivor — can select a visual starting point based on their specific needs. Interactive tools available throughout the site help patients search and filter more than 75,000 pages of cancer-related content — a boon to patients and families who may be overwhelmed by the array of potentially unreliable or confusing cancer information on the web.

"The new design and features are based on how users are searching for their information," says James Metz, MD, an associate professor and chief of clinical operations in the department of Radiation Oncology at the Perelman School of Medicine, who serves as editor-in-chief of OncoLink. "We took a close look at statistics and analytics to gauge what users are searching for the most, and how they are finding that information. The redesign puts content front and center. Our goal is to empower patients and healthcare providers to obtain the resources they are looking for instantaneously."

Click here to view the full release.