Discovering predictors of side effects from chemotherapy and their consequences for the NHS

Chemotherapy is known to have a variety of toxicities or side-effects, the severities of which may vary with certain individual patient’s characteristics. In this study, NHS Lothian electronic clinical record will be processed to measure the toxicity rates of common chemotherapeutic drugs, patient characteristics that lead to increased toxicities, and the burden of those toxicities on the NHS. This will produce better insight into side-effects of chemotherapy, more personalised treatment and better resource allocation for hospitals. Overall, this project aims to improve the lives of cancer patients and prepare for the needs of the growing number of people surviving cancer.